Sefton Council’s Customer Centric Services division covers all aspects of Customer Services Citizen Transactions and associated support services. These include the collection of Council Tax, Business Rates and other Revenues. Also included are the assessment of Housing Benefits, Council Tax Reductions and other financial awards. Customer Services, include a telephone Contact Centre and One Stop Shops dealing with customer enquiries and interactions, on behalf of a wide range of Council services, via telephone, email, social media and face-to-face.
The division is committed to providing a high-quality of service and to measure our success in achieving this goal, we are publishing a summary of each team’s performance here. This will be updated on a quarterly basis:
- Work volumes - The team has continued to maintain stable work levels despite ongoing demand. As of 30 September 2026, there were 11,114 documents outstanding, compared to 10,019 documents outstanding at the same point in 2025 and 13,904 documents outstanding in 2024, demonstrating a reduction over the longer term.
- My account / paperless billing - Over 33,000 residents have registered for a My Account. Customers are using the online portal to check how much Council Tax they need to pay and when payments are due. They are also using My Account to apply for discounts, set up or amend Direct Debits and report changes online. Over 57% of all changes reported online are automated and processed immediately, with the majority of those not automated completed within 2 weeks.
- Collection - Over £211 million in Council Tax was collected in-year during 2025/26. This represents 94.4% of the total collectible debit for the year. Outstanding Council Tax for 2025/26, and previous years, continues to be collected. By 30 September 2026, £124,532,530 Council Tax has been collected in-year compared to £119,455,969 collected in-year by 30 September 2025.
- Work volumes – As at 30 September 2026, there were 885 documents outstanding compared with 431 at the same point in 2025. This increase was primarily due to significant national legislative changes introduced from April 2026 and delays in software updates required to implement them.
- My account/paperless billing – there are now over 1,265 businesses registered for a My Account and over 945 businesses receiving paperless bills. Businesses are using the My Account online portal to check how much Business Rates they need to pay and when payments are due. They are also using My Account to notify changes, set up Direct Debits and update personal/contact details online. Over 91% of all changes reported online are automated and processed immediately, with the majority of those not automated completed within 2 weeks.
- Collection – Close to £73 million in Business Rates was collected in-year during 2025/26. This represents 97.6% of the total collectible debit for the year. Outstanding Business Rates for 2025/26, and previous years, continues to be collected. By 30 September 2026, £43,431,960 Business Rates has been collected in-year compared to £42,591,858 collected in-year by 30 September 2025.
- Phone calls – Between 1 July and 30 September 2026, the Business Rates Team received 890 phone calls with 95% successfully answered. This is a slight increase from the 833 phone calls received in the equivalent period in 2025. The multiple changes in Business Rates legislation, in addition to 2026 being a Revaluation year, provide an explanation for the slight increase in call volumes.
- Analyse Local RV finder – Over £600,00 of additional revenue has been identified from the Analyse Local RV finder service during the course of the current contract.
- Accounts Receivable continued to support income collection with over 1,000 customers paying by Direct Debit for Sundry Debt with £862,000 being collected through this method during this quarter. Total payments received has exceeded £25 million.
- Accounts Payable paid over £17.3 million to suppliers, recovered over £2,00 through duplicate payment checks and generated over £43,000 in rebates through the Supplier Early Payment Scheme
- Over 1,500 Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable telephone calls were handled between 1 July and 30 September 2026.
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Assessments Performance QTR 2 (Jul to Sep 2026/27) |
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|
Tasks |
Total Assessments Completed/ Awarded |
Average Time Taken |
|
Housing Benefit New Claims |
396 |
15.04 days |
|
Council Tax Reduction New Claims |
1,090 |
60.00 days |
|
Crisis and Resilience/ Housing Payments* |
212 |
28 days |
|
Emergency Limited Assistance Scheme |
2,123 |
2 days |
|
Crisis and Resilience/ Crisis Payments * |
580 |
14 days |
*Note: Discretionary Housing Payments and Household Support Fund changed names from April.
Between 1st Jul – 30th Sep 2026, 87% of all incoming calls were answered and 86% of prioritised calls were answered.
Between 1st Jul – 30th Sep 2026, 67% of all calls answered waited less than 5 minutes. However, during our busiest times of the day 12.00 pm and 2.00 pm, this reduced to 62% of all calls waited less than 5 minutes.
Between 1st Jul – 30th Sep 2026, the average waiting time to see a CSA, across our two One Stop Shop sites, was 9 minutes.
Between 1st Jul – 30th Sep 2026, Customer Services received 5 stage 1 complaints and 0 compliments. 4 of these, 80%, were answered within 15 days. We received 0 Stage 2 complaints.
In our most recent Customer Service User Experience Survey, in August 2026:
- a very high number of respondents, at both sites, said that their query was fully resolved during their visit (over 95% at both sites)
- 96.8% of respondents were either ‘Very Satisfied’ or ‘Fairly Satisfied’ with their interaction with a Customer Services Advisor
- nearly 99% of respondents in Bootle, and almost 98% in Southport, were ‘Very Satisfied’ or ‘Fairly Satisfied’ with the whole experience of interacting with Sefton Council via Customer Services during their visit
- 100% of all respondents said they did feel they had been treated fairly
Feedback received from our customers during our Customer Service User Experience Surveys, consistently highlights the difficulties some of our customers experience in trying to access Sefton’s online services.
Throughout the period 1st Jul – 30th Sep 2026 we have continued to ensure that practical support with online applications for financial assistance through the Emergency Limited Assistance Scheme (ELAS) and the new Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) remains readily available across all customer contact points, ensuring that this help remains accessible, inclusive and responsive