The Residents First Charter has been adopted by the Council following public consultation with our residents. You can see the comments people made and the Council’s response to them here.

Residents First Charter: Our Standards

Waltham Forest Council is committed to providing the best possible service that you demand and deserve.

To help ensure this, we have introduced our Residents First Charter which outlines what you can expect from everyone working for the Council, whether you contact us by telephone, in writing, through our website or visit us in person.

We have also set clear standards and commitments under the Council's priorities for services that are important to you.

We will…

  • Monitor our performance against these standards through a programme of mystery shopping
  • Publish the results for your information
  • Address areas of concern identified through our corporate performance management arrangements

Every time you contact us

We will…

  • Be polite, friendly and helpful
  • Respect your right to confidentiality
  • Provide information and advice on our services in plain language, not jargon
  • Clearly explain our decisions and the reasons for them
  • Apologise when we get things wrong and work hard to put them right
  • Recognise the diverse needs of our communities and work to make the Council accessible to all

If you contact us by telephone

We will…

  • Answer telephone calls within five rings and will greet you with our name and service area
  • Deal with your query at the first point of contact
  • Return your phone calls on the same day or when you ask us to

If you write to us by letter, e-mail or web form

We will…

  • Provide a full written response If you write to us by letter within 10 working days
  • Provide a full response to all e-mails or web requests within 5 working days
  • Acknowledge complaints within 3 working days and provide a full response within 20 working days

When you visit us or when we visit you

We will…

  • Wear identification tags when you visit us
  • See you within 15 minutes when you visit us
  • Arrive promptly when visiting your home or premises and will show Council identification

Service specific standards

In addition to our Resident First Charter we have also set clear standards under our priorities for service that are important to you.

Protect the most vulnerable

We will…

  • Carry out an Adult Social Care assessment of needs within 28 working days
  • Activate personal budgets following written notification of the amount of the allocation, within 28 working days
  • Ensure that all children and young people referrals for support are appropriately dealt with within 24 hours
  • Ensure that every child and young person we support has a clear plan that is effectively monitored and reviewed
  • Assess all urgent homelessness cases on the day of the visit
  • Assess your Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit or Free School meals claim on the day you visit if you bring all the evidence we need

Improve the safety of our community

We will…

  • Respond to dangerous and nuisance dog incidents within one hour during duty hours
  • Respond to 90% of all priority noise calls within one hour during duty hours
  • Ensure domestic violence and hate crime cases that are assessed as an emergency are offered an appointment within one working day
  • Contact you about your complaints of anti-social behaviour within five working days
  • Continue to campaign for a fair number of police officers for Waltham Forest

Get cleaner and greener

We will…

  • Clean roads at least once a week
  • Provide dedicated cleaners in high streets and town centres from 8am-10pm daily
  • Collect domestic refuse and recycling at least once a week
  • Offer a wide ranging bulky waste collection service at no additional charge
  • Remove all fly tips within 24 hours of being reported during working days

Regenerate our borough

We will…

  • Ask developers to provide 50% of new housing that is affordable and for people in housing need
  • Carry out a site visit and formulate a plan of action for all high priority breach of planning control complaints within 2 working days
  • Publicise a list of planning applications received and planning decisions made weekly on the Council's website
  • Consult with adjoining neighbours on planning applications and allow 21 calendar days in which to make representations
  • Respond to Building Control requests for a site visit on the same day where notification is received by 10am
  • Work with the developers on the Arcade site to assist them to bring forward a planning application for the site by the end of 2011, to start on site in late summer 2012

Make the most of the Olympic year

We will…

  • Deliver a borough-wide London 2012 events programme with a unique series of celebratory activities
  • Increase accessibility to the Olympic Park by delivering a new pedestrian bridge at Ruckholt Road, new pedestrian links through the Leyton Mills Retail Park and create new access from Marsh Lane to Orient Way
  • Carry out a range of 2012 Streetscene Improvements at key gateways to the borough in time for London 2012 at: Cann Hall Road, Crownfield Road, Ruckholt Road, Leyton High Road and Leytonstone High Road
  • Deliver improvements to key green spaces at: Drapers Field, Marsh Lane and Abbots Park
  • Establish parking arrangements to protect residents and businesses during London 2012

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