Results of Customer Survey

Introduction

The statistics team in the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) conducted a survey via SurveyMonkey (www.surveymonkey.com) in relation to customers’ views and information needs in light of the publications that are currently produced and the data that are produced.

The survey was aimed at meeting the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, particularly in reference to ‘Meeting User Needs’ and ‘User Engagement’.

In order to obtain as wide a response as possible, the survey was placed on-line and was available from 17 May to 30 June 2011. Details of the survey were also sent to all staff within NICTS, staff within the Justice Policy Directorate of the Northern Ireland Department of Justice, all staff within the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), and other customers of the NICTS. This was to ensure that all the NICTS statistics team’s current customer base was captured.

The results from the questionnaire are reported anonymously and any information that was provided was treated in the strictest of confidence.

Data limitations

The results of this survey should be treated with caution due to the small numbers who answered each question. The NICTS statistics team also recognise that answers may be biased as the survey takes account of a ‘convenience’ type sample framework. As such, it may not be reflective of all users of NICTS statistical information. However, the results do provide some information and important feedback on the services provided by the NICTS statistics team. Where there have been partial answers, this information has been included within the results.

Results

The results of the survey are as follows (see Annex 1):

30% of respondents had asked for statistics or data from the NICTS in the past year (2010/11).
Of those who had asked for statistics or data, 68% were very satisfied with the accessibility of staff, the remaining 32% were satisfied.
55% were very satisfied with the timeliness of response and an additional 41% were satisfied.
95% of responses were sent by e-mail.
No respondents made a formal complaint about the service received from the NICTS statistics team.
Of those respondents who had used the services of the NICTS statistics team in 2010/11, 55% had used the service the previous year.
33% of respondents stated that the service had improved while 67% stated that the service remained the same as the previous year (2009/10). No respondents thought that the service was worse than the previous year.
28% of respondents were very likely to use the services of the NICTS statistics team in the future, while 13% were quite likely to do so.
57% of respondents had used Judicial Statistics in the past year or were quite likely to use it in the future while 47% had used or were likely to use both the Crown Court Bulletin and the Magistrates’ Court Bulletin.
42% used the information provided by the NICTS statistics for policy decisions while 36% used it for general court trends and 36% for research decisions.
84% stated that the current information published met their requirements.
Overall, 40% were very satisfied and 55% were satisfied with the products and services provided by the NICTS statistics team.
The main respondents were from the NICTS (47%) while other Northern Ireland government departments represented 44%.

Further comments and suggestions

There were a number of further comments by respondents in relation to suggested improvements. The main suggestions and responses to these are as follows:

Information took too long to disclose – The statistics team in NICTS recognise that not all information is readily available. This may be due to a number of reasons including the fact that the information may require complex data manipulations. If this is the case, the statistics team make the customer aware of this information at the outset. Customers are also made aware of any changes to pre-arranged deadlines due to unforeseen circumstances. The information that the statistics team produce is prioritised, which means that information for Assembly Questions, Ministers’ cases and our quarterly and annual publications take precedence over all other statistical inquiries.

Information on specific court issues – The statistics team will carefully consider this information and provide this information if it is practical. This usually relates to information that is not required by a large number of customers. Where information is unavailable or would be of disproportionate cost to calculate, the customer is made aware of this at the earliest opportunity and alternative data are offered where available.

Not all information is published – The main types of information that are required by users are published in Judicial Statistics. However, the statistics team recognise that not all information that users require is published in this document. If the information is not available, the statistics team would encourage users to contact them to see whether or not data are available. The statistics team review all data that are published on a regular basis and make any necessary amendments to publications, to ensure that where possible users’ needs are met.

More text analysis in publications comparing data relating with previous years – The statistics team have improved the text within Judicial Statistics and the Mortgage Press Release in relation to comparisons between previous years’ data. The text in the quarterly bulletins relating to the Crown Court, the magistrates’ court, the High Court, the county court and the Children Order is being revised in line with this.

Annex 1 – Question results

1. In the past year have you asked for statistics or data from the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service?

	Response rate	Per cent
Yes	22	30.1
No	51	69.9
	73	100.0

2. How satisfied were you with the accessibility of staff of the NICTS statistics team?

	Response rate	Per cent
Very satisfied	15	68.2
Satisfied	7	31.8
Dissatisfied	0	0.0
Very dissatisfied	0	0.0
	22	100.0

3. How satisfied were you with the timeliness of the response from the NICTS statistics team?

	Response rate	Per cent
Very satisfied	12	54.5
Satisfied	9	40.9
Dissatisfied	0	0.0
Very dissatisfied	1	4.5
	22	100.0

4. How did you receive the information you requested?

	Response rate	Per cent
E-mail	21	95.5
Letter	1	4.5
On-line via NICTS website	2	9.1
Other	2	9.1
	22	100.0

Multiple response question.

5. If you were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the service you received from the NICTS statistics team, did you make a formal complaint?

	Response rate	Per cent
Yes	0	0.0
No	1	100.0
	1	100.0

6. How satisfied were you with the way your complaint was handled?

	Response rate	Per cent
Very satisfied	0	0
Satisfied	0	0
Dissatisfied	0	0
Very dissatisfied	0	0
	0	0

7. Did you use the services of the NICTS statistics team in the previous year - 2009/10?

	Response rate	Per cent
Yes	12	54.5
No	10	45.5
	22	100.0

8. How do you think the service provided by NICTS statistics in 2010/11 compared with the service provided in 2009/10?

	Response rate	Per cent
Better	4	33.3
About the same	8	66.7
Worse	0	0.0
	12	100.0

9. How likely are you to use the services of the NICTS statistics team in the future?

	Response rate	Per cent
Very likely	20	28.2
Quite likely	9	12.7
Quite unlikely	19	26.8
Very unlikely	23	32.4
	71	100.0

10. Which of the following publications have you used in the past year or are likely to use in the future?

	Response rate	Per cent
Judicial Statistics	17	56.7
Mortgage Press Release	9	30.0
Crown Court Bulletin	14	46.7
Magistrates’ Court Bulletin	14	46.7
High Court Bulletin	6	20.0
County Court Bulletin	7	23.3
Children Order Bulletin	7	23.3
	30	100.0

Multiple response question.

11. What did you/are you likely to, use the information for?

	Response rate	Per cent
Policy decisions	15	41.7
General court trends	13	36.1
Business volumes	11	30.6
Court processing times	9	25.0
Research decisions	13	36.1
Other	9	25.0
	36	100.0

Multiple response question.

12. Does the current information meet your requirements?

	Response rate	Per cent
Yes	31	83.8
No	6	16.2
	37	100.0

13. Overall, how satisfied were you with the products and services provided by the NICTS statistics team?

	Response rate	Per cent
Very satisfied	16	40.0
Satisfied	22	55.0
Dissatisfied	2	5.0
Very dissatisfied	0	0.0
	40	100.0

14. The respondent

	Response rate	Per cent
NICTS member of staff	33	47.1
Other NI Government Department	31	44.3
Other UK/Ireland Department	0	0.0
Community Group	0	0.0
Media/journalist	0	0.0
Academic	1	1.4
Student	1	1.4
Other	4	5.7
	70	100.0

Further information

Further information in relation to this survey can be obtained by contacting:

Dr M Wilson
Statistics and Research
Judicial and Customer Services
Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service
Laganside House
23-27 Oxford Street
Belfast
BT1 3LA

Tel: 028 9072 8920

Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service
Laganside House
23-27 Oxford Street
Belfast
BT1 3LA
www.courtsni.gov.uk