The Arts Service promise to customers

Whatever the service, whichever way they contact us, we promise our customers to:

• Deal with enquiries in a friendly, helpful and courteous manner;
• Treat everyone equally and without discrimination;
• Provide accurate and timely information;
• Treat any information given to us or held by us sensitively and discreetly, respecting any confidentiality;
• Meet the targets set out in our service standards;
• Treat any comments and complaints about our services seriously and to handle them in a positive way.

The services we provide

The arts development section strives to encourage and create opportunities for people who live, work and visit the Vale to enjoy the arts. We provide the following types of service:

• Advice for artists, arts groups and the voluntary sector
• Planning and management of public art projects and other arts initiatives
• Organising rural touring theatre events
• Implementing an arts development strategy.

Responding to Customers

Standards for responding to enquiries via letter, email, telephone or personal visit are set out in the Council's Customer Service Charter. The arts development section also has specific standards for its services, which are set out below.

• Provide experienced and up to date information and advice about funding, artistic development and community links;
• Make the best use of resources available to provide a wide range of high quality arts opportunities to everyone;
• Consult with customers and respond to their views appropriately;
• All projects are well planned and managed and risk assessments are carried out before commencements of all participatory projects;
• Artists employed on projects are of a high quality;
• Where artists are employed to work in community settings the arts development unit will ensure that they are police checked, aware of child protection act and be sympathetic to the customer group they are working with;
• Although the Council can not endorse all content created by our arts partners we seek to support high quality and professional arts services in the area;
• Partnerships are reviewed on an annual basis, to ensure that accounts are fully audited and correct measures and policies are in place.

Help Us to Help You!

Customers can help the Council to deliver the best possible service by:

• Being aware of any relevant service standards (for example, turnaround times on applications);
• Keeping us informed of any relevant changes in your circumstances;
• Responding to letters and any requests for further information or documentation in the timescales requested;
• Treating our staff with respect and courtesy.

Customer Behaviour

Our staff are committed to providing the best possible service for customers, and we believe that in return our staff have a right to be treated courteously and with respect.

The Council will not tolerate instances of verbal, written or physical harrassment or abuse of its staff. The Council will record such incidents and may report incidents to the police. We retain the right, where we consider customer actions to be unacceptable, to change, restrict or refuse access to our services.

Comments, Complaints and Suggestions

The Council recognises that communication is a two-way process and operates a procedure that encourages comments, complaints and suggestions to enable service improvement. Whichever method you use to contact us with a complaint, it will be dealt with in the same way.

• A full written reply will be sent within seven working days or, if your complaint is complicated, you will be sent a reply or progress report within 28 days.
• If you are unhappy about our reply to your complaint, you can write to the Chief Executive at the Council using the Freepost address.
• If, after following the Council's procedure you are still not satisfied with the outcome, you can refer it to the Local Government Ombudsman. We can supply you with the contact details on request.