A sign of excellence

Power Company Investigated

The Public Service Minister Peter Kilfoyle said he was concerned by a "dramatic" rise in the number of complaints against London Electricity.

The company was awarded a Charter Mark by the last government in 1995 for providing excellent service, said Mr Kilfoyle.

Power company under scrutiny

"But I am concerned by the dramatic rise in the number of complaints received about them in the last six months," he said.

"Charter Unit officials are meeting London Electricity to investigate their customer service operations as a matter of urgency," continued Mr Kilfoyle.

"They will then report to the independent Charter Mark judging panel, who will decide whether or not they should be allowed to keep their Charter Mark," he added.

London Electricity responded by saying they were disappointed at the news.

"Our objective is to improve our level of customer service as quickly as possible," said a spokeswoman.

"We understand that basic customer service is the most important thing for our company, particularly going into competition in the domestic market next April," she insisted.

"We are most concerned to sort out the problems that were brought to our attention and we are trying to get to the bottom of that as quickly as possible in a number of ways," she added.

Charter Marks are awarded for three years and recognise excellent public service, viewed from the customers' perspective.

There are currently 645 Charter Mark holders in all areas of public service, including local authorities, police and fire services, schools, hospitals and government agencies.

The Citizen's Charter Unit
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