The BSI, the business standards company, has awarded us with the Inclusive Service Provision for the second year in a row.
Our pride in being awarded this comes from the fact we are being recognised for doing the right thing for our customers. The Inclusive Service Provision is the gold standard for customer service and securing it for a second year shows that we are living by our promise to treat people fairly.
The standard recognises that our procedures and services are inclusive. They are available to all, regardless of personal circumstances.
We tailor what we do to provide a fair and flexible service to meet the needs of individuals. In the past two years we have reviewed, updated and amended policies to make sure they were fit for purpose. We have conducted extensive staff training to make sure all our teams are able to identify if somebody is vulnerable.
In recent years we made a concerted effort to provide our information in an accessible format. We know individual needs are rarely the same and we have to be flexible. This means people will receive their material in the most appropriate way for them. This could be via an audio CD, large print, braille or having it translated into their first language. We will adapt and amend our service to make peoples' lives easier.
In the last year we continued to find ways of improving the way we engage with our customers. In September we rebranded to Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks. This followed feedback from our customers to suggest there was uncertainty about who we were and what we did. The new brand has brought clarity to our customers and we are continuing to raise awareness of our services with them.
We updated our systems so people can report a power cut using the new national three-digit number '105', helping to remove the confusion about what number they should call if they lose power. We have updated our contact details on customer facing information to raise its awareness and to encourage people to use it.
In the last year we have increased the number of people on our Priority Service Register. We now have more than 450,000 people signed on to it. While happy with the number we know there are more people that can qualify for it. So we will continue to raise awareness of it to make sure anybody that needs extra help in a power cut has signed up to our PSR.
It has been a busy and rewarding year and receiving the Inclusive Service Provision for a second time is a welcomed recognition for our hard work. We will not be complacent and we are continuing to do everything we can to make sure the needs of our customers continue to influence our business decisions.