Lincolnshire Housing Partnership (LHP) has become the first organisation to achieve Customer Service Excellence Version 2, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of the nationally recognised customer service standard. The achievement follows an independent assessment by Assessment Services and recognises LHP’s commitment to delivering customer-focused services, driving continuous improvement and placing customer insight at the heart of decision-making.
Customer Service Excellence Version 2 reflects the changing expectations of customers and communities, with an increased focus on customer insight, inclusion, technology and innovation, community engagement, service improvement and measurable outcomes. As the first organisation to be assessed against the revised standard, LHP has demonstrated how these principles can be successfully embedded within both strategic planning and day-to-day service delivery.
Serving more than 20,000 people across Northern and Eastern Lincolnshire, LHP provides a wide range of housing and support services designed to help customers and communities thrive. The assessment highlighted a strong commitment to understanding customer needs, using feedback to shape services and ensuring that customer outcomes remain central to organisational decision-making.
John O’Hanrahan (Corporate Head of Customers at LHP)
“Day in, day out, we interact with thousands of customers here at LHP. Providing them with great customer service is a must; we want to do everything we can to support our customers, however they interact with us. Over the past year, our focus has been on giving our customers a wider range of ways to contact us, giving them the freedom and option to contact us how and when suits them. We’ve also worked hard to make sure we’re constantly using customer voices to influence our decision making.
Changing how we do things means we need to make sure we uphold our standards and deliver excellent service every time – and this is where Customer Service Excellence Version 2 comes in. Having a clear framework to focus on and an independent assessor to make sure we are continually doing our best is incredibly helpful. It’s helped us to make sure our actions are tied to outcomes, and our decisions driven by influence and feedback.
I’m incredibly proud to see LHP as the first organisation to achieve Customer Service Excellence Version 2. It is an amazing achievement, and a testament to the hard work delivered day in, day out, by colleagues, customers and partners of LHP. We look forward to continuing our journey with Customer Service Excellence as we strive to always deliver excellent customer service to our customers.”
Helen Bell (Neighbourhood Team Leader and LHP Assessment Lead)
“If I had to describe the Customer Service Excellence Version 2 assessment in three words, it would be rigorous, informative, and reflective. After sharing detailed evidence on how we feel we meet the 39 different criteria that make up CSE, we took part in a 1.5 day assessment where the CSE assessor met with colleagues from a wide range of roles across LHP. They gathered honest feedback and real examples of where we do a good job, and where we need to improve, and this is all shared with us as part of the assessment.
Overall, the Version 2 framework was clear, easy to follow and made it straightforward to understand the evidence required. It feels more aligned with modern service delivery and the expectations of today’s customers. The framework provided us with an excellent opportunity to reflect on our services, celebrate good practice and identify opportunities for continuous improvement. The assessor was really supportive and encouraged open discussion that helped to showcase the positive impact our teams have on customers. Overall, it helped to reassure us that we are delivering services that meet the needs of our customers and communities.”
Assessment Services (Richard Adkins, Systems and Finance Manager / CSE Assessor)
“We are delighted to recognise Lincolnshire Housing Partnership as the first organisation to achieve Customer Service Excellence Version 2. The assessment identified strong evidence of customer-focused service delivery, innovation, community engagement and continuous improvement. LHP has set an excellent benchmark for future organisations seeking to achieve the revised standard and demonstrates how customer insight and organisational learning can be translated into positive outcomes for customers and communities.”
Customer Service Excellence was originally developed by the Cabinet Office and remains the UK’s national standard for customer service. Version 2 reflects the changing expectations of customers and communities and provides organisations with an independent framework through which to demonstrate customer-focused service delivery, continuous improvement and measurable outcomes.
