Service Standards That You Should Expect
The Council works hard to ensure that the contracts that it awards deliver high
levels of service to the public, as well as delivering value for money. Listed below are details of
the standards that you, as a member of the public, should expect from a selection of services delivered
by Council contractors.
It is important that if you experience service standards which are lower than those
detailed below, that you inform the Council’s Procurement Team:
- E-mail - procurement@leics.gov.uk
- Telephone – 0116 3055837 or 0116 3055270
School Buses
If you use the school bus service, then
you should expect the driver to do the following:- Approach each pick-up point slowly and with care, keeping the doors closed until the bus is at a complete standstill
- Make sure that the doors of the bus are properly closed before moving off, checking that nothing is caught in the doors
- Ensure that, when pupils are getting off the bus, they and their possessions are completely clear of the vehicle before closing the door and moving off
- Not allow anybody to ride on the platform at the front of the bus or sit on the front window ledge
- Ensure all pupils are seated before moving off
Further Dos and Don’ts for school bus drivers are published
in the Drivers’ Guidelines
Highways
As well as directly delivering Highways
Services, the Council also uses a contractor, Tarmac National Contracting Ltd.The Highways Charter outlines the Council’s
commitment to you in providing a high quality, user friendly Highways Service that meets your needs.
The Charter also covers work carried out by Tarmac National Contracting Ltd.
Grass Cutting
Tarmac National Contracting Ltd is responsible
for cutting highway grass verges on behalf of the Council. You should expect highway grass verges to be cut at the following frequencies:
- 12 times each year in towns and villages. During the grass cutting season, generally March to October (dependent on the weather), information on progress is shown on the website
- 3 times each year along the roads between towns and villages. The final cut covers the full width of the highway verge. The other cuts are around a metre wide along the edges of the road and, for visibility, at junctions only
Recycling & Household Waste Sites
The Council provides 14 Recycling & Household
Waste Sites for you, as a member of the public, to use to dispose of your own household
waste.
When using these sites, you should expect the following:
- Assistance in disposing of permitted waste, where requested
- Complaints dealt with in a prompt, courteous and efficient manner
- A site that is kept clean and tidy at all times
- The quantity and types of material for reuse and recycling are maximised
Home Care Services
Home
Care Services involve some or all of the following services, dependent upon what is included
in the Support Plan that you have agreed with the Council:- Personal1/Social Care
- Domestic tasks, including shopping, laundry, meal preparation
- Rehabilitation/Teaching of Independent Living Skills
- Carer support, including night sitting and respite care
As well as providing Home Care Services itself, the Council has
also contracted 34 providers to provide such services.
You should expect the following from your Home Care Services provider (or indeed
the Council, where we directly provide the service):
- Total satisfaction with the care received, allowing maximum independence
- A provider that is registered with the Care Quality Commission, including being registered to deliver the specific type of care that you are receiving
- The care workers delivering your care are fully aware of the requirements of the National Minimum Standards (Domiciliary Care)
- Consideration is given to your religious beliefs, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background
- A provider that works within the objectives and outcomes stated in your Support Plan, or contained in your Service User profile, and undertakes all of the tasks within these documents. This will be in line with your welfare and wishes
- The service is to be delivered at the times stated in your Support Plan. Where the service includes a critical task(s) no change to the agreed time is acceptable. Where the service includes solely non-critical tasks then the care worker's time of arrival must not vary by more than 15 minutes before or 15 minutes after this agreed time without your agreement, unless a ‘time window’ has been agreed within the Support Plan, in which case the care worker must commence delivery of the service within this period.(Critical Tasks: Meal Preparation to meet medical needs (i.e. diabetic), Day Care attendance, orientation calls to prevent deterioration in mental health / Non-Critical Tasks: Assistance to get in/out of bed, assistance to wash and dress/undress/toileting, meal provision, secure property, prompting /administering medication, maintaining heating/fire making, respite/sitting service)
- A Provider that monitors the service you receive, and reports any changes, including any significant improvement and/or deterioration, in your circumstances or needs to the Council
1
‘Personal Care’: Undertaking any activity which requires a degree of close personal and physical contact
with a person, regardless of age, who for reasons associated with disability, frailty, illness or personal
physical capacity are unable to provide it themselves without assistance. (NATIONAL MINIMUM CARE STANDARDS
FOR DOMICILIARY CARE) – Care Standards Act 2000
Page Last Updated: 1 April 2010
