D. Response To Enquiries & Consumer Complaints
Describing the Inspectorate's handling of both general enquiries and water quality complaints from members of the public, organisations and businesses.
Recording the extent to which Code for Enforcement targets for responding to all such contacts were met.
General Enquiries
The Code for Enforcement sets a target for the Inspectorate to respond to all general enquiries, irrespective of origin, within three weeks.
The Inspectorate developed and introduced a new electronic system for recording, categorising and responding to, general enquiries. The new system was introduced on 1 September 2000.
This system allows the Inspectorate to give a more detailed analysis of the types of enquiries received. It also enables it to better monitor trends in numbers and types of enquiries.
Differences in the way in which the information is recorded and categorised means that the two systems are not directly comparable and simple addition of figures from the two systems would be unreliable.
The tables below detail enquiries received and recorded under the old and new systems. Both tables demonstrate the form of enquiry and the number of responses that reached or fell short of the desired target.
General Enquiries Received By DWI During 2000 Recorded Under Old System (January - August 2000) Form of Enquiry Number received where response has been within 3 weeks Number received where response has exceeded 3 weeks Total (% meeting target) Phone
Letter/Fax/E-Mail
Total1611
944
25550
0
01611
944
2555100%
100%
100%
General Enquiries Received By DWI During 2000 Recorded Under New System (September - December 2000) Form of Enquiry Number received where response has been within 3 weeks Number received where response has exceeded 3 weeks Total (% meeting target) Phone
Letter/Fax/E-Mail
Total745
403
11481
4
5746
407
115399.9%
99.0%
99.6%
Consumer Complaints
In 2000, the Inspectorate investigated 281 complaints from consumers about drinking water quality, an increase of 44% compared with 1999.
The largest number of complaints related to the supply of discoloured water, with complaints about chlorinous tastes and odours and other tastes and odours also featuring highly.
Breakdown of Complaints by Type
Most of the complaints were dealt with either by the Inspectorate asking the relevant company to look into the matter and comment or, where appropriate, by the Inspectorate advising complainants on action which they themselves could take.
In the event of the consumer being dissatisfied with the company’s response, the Inspectorate investigated the complaint further. For some cases this was done in association with the environmental health department of the local authority concerned.
The Inspectorate liaises closely with the Office of Water Services on consumer complaints involving both Regulators. The relevant Customer Service Committee when appropriate refers complaints to the Inspectorate for investigation, and is kept informed by the Inspectorate of the outcome of its water quality complaint investigations.
Investigations were generally completed within the terms of the Inspectorate’s Code for Enforcement of three weeks. However, 22 complaints (7.8%) fell outside the target, usually because of the complexity of the investigation or delays outside the Inspectorate’s control.
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Drinking Water Inspectorate,
Floor 2/A1, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6DE
Telephone : 020 7944 5956 - Facsimile : 020 7944 5969
E-mail: dwi_enquiries@detr.gov.uk
Published 11 July 2001
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