On contact

  • We will be polite and courteous
  • We will guarantee confidentiality and equality
  • We will provide an interpreter, where appropriate
  • We will do our best to provide information/advice about other local services that are not provided by the Council

Telephone contact

  • We will answer your calls within five rings
  • We will greet and give our name and service area
  • When we pass your enquiry to a specialist, we will pass on your personal details and the nature of your query so that you do not have to repeat it to another person

Written contact (including emails)

  • We will reply to all correspondence, including Councillors’ enquiries, within 10 days
  • We will provide a contact name, office address, email address and direct dial number in the letter
  • We will acknowledge complaints within 5 days and complete the investigation with 28 days
  • We will write in plain language and provide translations where appropriate
  • We will provide information in community languages, on tape, or in Braille, at customer’s request

Face to face contact

At a Council office

  • We will have uniformed front line staff
  • We will have name badges for all staff
  • We will use community language signage
  • We will attend to callers within 5 minutes and provide the required information or complete the required transaction within 15 minutes.
  • We will keep the appointment that you have made and will inform you in advance if we have to cancel it

In your home

  • We will make an appointment to meet you in your home and will inform you in advance if we have to cancel it
  • We will wear and show Council identification

Customer Services Strategy

Our aim is to make the Council more accessible to our customers. Details of how we plan to do this are set out in our Customer Services Strategy, which was agreed by Cabinet on 15 October 2004:

Contacting us

You can contact us in the following ways:

Tel 020 8496 3000
Fax 020 8496 3301
Minicom 020 8496 3010

Email wfdirect@walthamforest.gov.uk

Website www.walthamforest.gov.uk