Service charter
Our Service Charter sets out the high standards of service you can expect from HIE
Visitors
Our main offices will be open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. (Any exceptions or variations will be publicised.)
Visitors to our offices will be seen promptly at their appointed time.
Visitors without an appointment will be seen as soon as possible by a member of staff who will either deal with their enquiry or arrange an appointment.
Accessibility
We are committed to making our services accessible to everyone who could benefit from them, irrespective of any disability they may have.
We have designed our website and web-based services to adhere to web standards and accessibility criteria. The results of such reviews are incorporated into improvements for our sites. Our accessibility statement is available here.
Please let us know about any special needs you may have, and we will do our best to help.
Phone
Reception and/or other members of staff answering reception phone calls will endeavour to answer all calls within five rings and give their name and the name of the organisation.
Incoming calls will normally be answered within five rings. When staff are not available, their calls will be answered by colleagues where possible, or voicemail.
Answering services will only be used in receptions outside normal office hours, on public holidays, during staff development, in cases of emergency, or in exceptional circumstances.
We will return all phone, voicemail or answerphone messages within two working days, unless we have told you otherwise.
Enquiries and correspondence
We will acknowledge all enquiries received by email and webform within two working days and all letters that call for a response within seven working days of receiving them. If we need more time to respond in full, we will acknowledge your request and let you know when to expect a full response.
On the occasion that a member of staff is not available within office hours, an alternative available contact for urgent enquiries will be given in any “out of office” email communication.
We welcome correspondence in both Gaelic and English.
Performance
Audit Scotland assesses HIE's overall performance and value for money:
Information and openness
You can get information about our plans and services on our website: hie.co.uk. Alternatively, you can get in touch by phoning, writing, calling in at our offices or emailing us at info@hient.co.uk
HIE complies with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOI) 2002 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, which governs the way in which public organisations process requests for information. Details of how to exercise your rights under the Act can be found on this website and in each of our offices. The Scottish Information Commissioner is responsible for enforcing and promoting Scotland’s freedom of information legislation whose website is www.itspublicknowledge.info
HIE also adheres to the data protection obligations set out under the Data Protection Act 2018 and sitting alongside this the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which set out the key principles, rights and obligations for the processing of personal data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) provides advice and guidance to those trying to comply with the law and has a helpful enquiry service further information can be found at www.ico.org.uk
Consultation
Your views on our services and facilities, and your understanding of our role, are important to us.
We consult our customers, partners and stakeholders regularly through day-to-day contact, meetings and customer surveys.
Accounts
We follow the Scottish Government's policy on payment performance and aim to pay all invoices, not in dispute, within 10 days (or the agreed terms if different).
Your suggestions
To help improve our services, we would like to know what you think about the standard of our service. We welcome all of your comments and suggestions. Please email info@hient.co.uk.