Community Arts Service Evaluation - July 2004

Introduction

The Mystery Shopper approach is generally used to evaluate frontline operations, where it is important to check that customers are being served quickly, courteously and being given the right information.

The approach can identify areas that may require improvement, including some of the following:

• quality of service
• behaviour of staff
• quality of the facility
• overall experience

Mystery Shopping was used to evaluate the service provided within North Lanarkshire Council's Community Arts Classes. This tool allows the Community Services department to improve the service offered to our customers. 

Contents

1. Executive Summary
2. Research Aims and Objectives
3. Methodology
4. Findings
   4.1  Outside the building
   4.2  Inside the building
   4.3  Staffing
   4.4  Community Arts Classes
   4.5  Overall experience
5. Recommendations

Executive Summary

1. Outside the Building
   
   The majority of service users (47%) felt that the exterior of the building was on the whole Average. The only aspect which rated quite poor was the parking areas at each of the facilities. Respondents felt that there is not enough adequate parking for them to use.

2. Inside the Building
   
   The majority of users (38%) felt that the interior of the building was on the whole Average or in some cases Above Average. When asked about Service Standards, many service users (33%) were not aware of what this meant.

3. Staffing
   
   The majority of users (60%) found that the staff in the Community Arts classes they attended were excellent. Service users got what they needed from the class and got help when it was required.
   

4. Community Arts Classes
   
   Many users (39%) felt that the classes they attended were Excellent or Above Average. Service users also felt that there was an inadequate amount of advertising of classes.

5. Overall Experience

Approximately 36% of users felt that their overall experience of Community Arts was excellent. A high number (67%) failed to indicate a response as to how well the facility caters for use by children.

The aim of the research was:

To identify through consultation with members of the public their comments, criticisms, compliments and future expectations of the service provided by North Lanarkshire Council's Community Arts section.

2.2 Objectives

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