Customer Satisfaction Award for Local Authority Searches

About the winner

The team at Arun District Council were thrilled to celebrate winning the Customer Satisfaction Award for Local Authority Searches for a third year in a row!

Until recently Arun’s LLC team consisted of Christine Bardwell and mother and son team Carole Minto and Dan Carman. Dan told us that Christine and Carole have worked together in Local Land Charges for 44 years and when he was a baby Carole would bring him into the office while she collected work - he used to have a den under the desk where he was given colouring, stamps and other minor admin work to occupy him.  Dan grew up and became officially employed by Arun in 2002! Christine retired lin 2018. The team now consists of Dan Carman, Carole Minto and Jayne Hewstone (pictured here) adding the LLPG & Street naming and numbering functions to the team.

As well as winning the 2017 and 2018 Customer Satisfaction Award and being highly commended in 2016 and 2017 in the Best Customer Experience category, Daniel Carman, was highly commended for the Local Land Charges Officer of the Year in 2017.

Solicitors comments

“Their customer service is second to none and their pricing is more than fair. We requested a quote for a block local search and received the result within 24 hours! Excellent!” “They are incredibly efficient with Local Land Charges. In addition they always assist promptly with enquiries relating to matters such as planning and building control. Nothing is ever too much trouble and I cannot praise them highly enough.”

About the award

Local Authority Searches Team of the Year

About the winner

This is the first time Reigate and Banstead has won an Award, the team of two were shortlisted in the category in 2018. When Lesley Eggleston and Maggie Judd (pictured here) aren’t working in Local Land Charges they spend their time organising fund raising events for local charities including the homeless and Women’s Refuge. A traditional afternoon tea held in the Council Chamber for Women’s Refuge was filmed last year for C4 Dispatches. Maggie has slept rough to highlight homelessness and Lesley is a caver and a custodian of the caves in Reigate!

Judges comments

“An impressive entry from Reigate & Banstead Borough Council. We could see from the evidence there is a high level of co-operation and constructive interaction with other LA departments. This plus an array of effective customer service tactics clearly demonstrates that this is a team that punches above its weight.”

About the award

Best Performing NLIS Level 3 Local Land Charges Department

About the winner

A second time finalist for this award category, the LLC team at the City of York collected the highly commended trophy in 2014. The team came 5th in the same category in 2015 and 7th in 2017. The department is made up of three members - Peter Audin who is the City of York’s Local Land Charges Manager and LLPG manager (Peter is also the LLCI President), Senior LLC officer Maggie Gosling and LLC officer Ian Hartley (pictured here). The team are also the Council’s pop quiz team champions having won 3 years in a row!

About the award

Best Performing NLIS Level 2 Local Land Charges Department

About the winner

North Devon Council has won this award category for the fifth time and the third year in a row! The team at North Devon has featured many times in the Awards finalists, taking 6th place in the 2009 Most Improved NLIS Services category, 3rd place in the 2015 Best Performing NLIS level 2 category, and winner of the same category in 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018. Debbie and Rob (pictured here) are both keen runners and belong to the same running club. When they are not discussing Local Land Charges, conversations tend to revolve around races, aches, pains and more aches and pains!

About the award

Best Customer Experience Award

About the winner

The LLC team of four at Manchester City Council (pictured here) has featured once before on the finalist list when they were highly commended in the 2016 Best Performing NLIS level 2 Local Land Charges Department. In response to the Manchester Arena attack in May 2017, Manchester City Council and Wild in Art united the city in 2018 for Bee in the City, one of the most spectacular public art events the city has ever seen. Thousands of people discovered more than 230 Bees all over Manchester, taking in the city’s landmarks and undiscovered gems. Each of the 101 super-sized Bees was designed by a different artist and celebrated the unique buzz of Manchester, from its industrial heritage to its vibrant music scene. 131 little Bees joined the trail, created by the children and young people of the city. As a result more than £1m has been raised for the We Love Manchester Charity which improves the lives and life chances of Manchester people.

Judges comments

“The constant and consistent service provided by Manchester was well demonstrated. From the electronic links to supporting documents, through to the provision of contacts for all CON29 data suppliers this, alongside their “Our Manchester” policy helped demonstrate their commitment to the customer experience.”

About the award

The Unsung Hero Award

About the winner

Winner:

Pushpa Solanki, Bedford Borough Council

Members of the NLIS Hub helpdesk team commented:

“Pushpa is always helpful and polite on the phone, she is easy to talk to and will always try her best to meet the customer’s needs.

“Pushpa is extremely helpful and methodical, she always provides fully detailed answers to our queries.”

About the award

Most Improved NLIS Services

About the winner

A first time Local Land Charges Awards winner, North Dorset District Council is part of the Dorset Councils Partnership which includes West Dorset District Council and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council who also feature in the top 10 for this category!

The LLC teams within the Dorset Councils Partnership are delighted to be recognised for their improvements which they put down to a new structure, daily targets, improved processes which include working more digitally and harmonising fees across the three authorities.

About the award

The Digital Data Award

About the winner

A first time win for Dartford Borough Council for this new Award category! The team have featured on the top 10 shortlist for the Best Performing NLIS Level 3 Local Land Charges Department twice, once in 2013 and again in 2014.

Judges comments

“All the entries for this category were excellent! What came over strongly was the level of co-operation between the Local Land Charges staff and other supporting staff as this ensured that the digital programmes continued to move in the right direction, particularly when funding was tight.”

About the award