The Citizens' Panel was set up in 1998 to explore people's attitudes to individual services provided by the council. It helps ensure that we are providing the right services to the right standard and cost. It complements the Residents' Survey, which asks a more general set of questions on satisfaction and monitors changes over time.
In October 2005 we recruited over 1300 residents as new members of our Citizens’ Panel. It is representative of age (16-65+), gender, employment status, household occupancy and location of residents in Guildford Borough. Panel members are taken on for an initial period of three years and are replaced by one third every year.
So far the new panel has been consulted on how we communicate with local residents and has also been asked some questions about a casino in Guildford.Â
Areas of research
Visits to the council offices
The council Offices at Millmead are important to us, not only as an administrative centre for everything we do, but also as a contact point for our residents to access the services we provide.
Telephone contact with the council
We know that it is not always convenient for our residents to come and visit us for help or information, which is why we want to provide the best telephone contact we can.
Other methods of contact with the council
As well as telephone and face-to-face contact, we also provide email/online services and SMS leisure updates.
Development of customer access
In order to keep providing the best service we can, we need to keep improving and widening the range of options our residents have to access our services, particularly using new technology.
Visits to the Tourist Information Centre
The Tourist Information Centre, situated in Guildford town centre, offers a wide range of services for both visitors to the borough and the residents themselves. Services include: an accommodation booking service, tickets for local events, a holiday information service, souvenirs, books, guides, maps and eating out guides.
Contact with the TIC
The Tourist Information Centre can be contacted in person or by telephone and we also have a tourism section on this website.