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STAFF sickness is to blame for bad performance in answering telephone calls, according to Hart District Council.

A report for the meeting of the overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday revealed the district council is missing its own targets for performance at the Civic Centre, Fleet.

The Contact Centre, established in July 2006, deals with all general enquiries from members of the public and deals with payments of council tax and other charges.

According to the report, staff answered only 52.4 per cent of calls within 15 seconds from April to June this year - well short of the district council's target of 80 per cent.

Only 60.5 per cent of calls were answered within 30 seconds, again short of the target of 85 per cent.

Figures for July showed a slight improvement, with 65.3 per cent of calls answered within 15 seconds, and 71.8 per cent of calls answered within 30 seconds.

Report author Nigel Preston, head of housing and customer services at Hart District Council, blamed staff illness for the figures.

He wrote: "Key factors in the recent decline have been a number of staff issues. The most significant relates to staff sickness.

"Between May 2007 and May 2008, the number of full-time equivalent staff available in the Contact Centre dropped from 3.46 to 2.52. This reduction is almost all accounted for by sick leave."

He added a long-term member of staff left in March, and had not yet been replaced.

When asked to explain the missed targets, Councillor Susan Band, Cabinet member for housing and health, claimed the district council had improved its figures in August.

She said: "I am delighted that the Contact Centre has raised its game in August and has hit its target of answering 80 per cent of all calls within 15 seconds."

3:09pm Sunday 24th August 2008

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