Performance Pledges

The Land Registry launched the performance pledges since 1993, which are reviewed annually. In 2009/10, we exceeded all the performance pledges and introduced further enhancements in our pledges or service standards. In particular, we introduced a new performance pledge for registration of re-submitted stopped deeds in 16 working days. We also enhanced performance target in the supply of certified copies of computerised land registers and imaged copies without oversize plans over the counter from 96% to 97%, and enhanced service standard in the delivery of Monthly Memorial Information on Mortgage Transactions data files from five to four working days. We will continue our commitment to improve the quality and efficiency of services.


Customer Services

Service is at the core of the Land Registry's mission. Our aim is to deliver value-for-money quality services to our customers, and to foster partnership of trust with our existing and prospective customers. To this end, we strengthened our dedicated Management and Customer Services Division during the year to meet the growing expectation of customers.


(i) Customer Feedback

In 2009/10, the Land Registry received 1,036 commendations through the customer service hotline, Land Registry's homepage, comment cards, letters and emails. This represents a significant increase of 167% from 2008/09.

We also received 13 suggestions and 25 complaints in 2009/10. All the suggestions and complaints were promptly addressed and fully responded to help us strive for continuous service improvements.


(ii) Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme 2009

In recognition of the Land Registry's achievements and continuous efforts in providing quality services to the public, the department was awarded the First Runner-up of the Service Enhancement Award (Small Department category) in the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme 2009 organised by the Civil Service Bureau.


(iii) The Ombudsman's Awards 2009

The Land Registry received the Public Organisation Award in the Ombudsman's Awards 2009. The award was a recognition of the department's positive and supportive stance towards the Ombudsman's investigations of complaints, which helped bring about improvements in service quality and promote fairness in public administration.


(iv) Customer Management Assessment Framework  (CMA 101)

CMA 101 is a structured self-assessment programme launched by the Efficiency Unit to help departments identify potential improvement areas and support continuous enhancement in customer management.

As one of the pilot participating departments, the Land Registry completed the exercise in July 2008 and drew up a high level action plan for monitoring implementation of enhancement initiatives.

The initiatives delivered in 2009/10 included “validation and updating of customer records” and “categorisation of customer feedbacks” which assisted in promoting a customer centric culture and effective handling of the suggestions and responses of the customers. We would further work on the remaining items according to the action plan.


(v) Customer Service Survey

A customer service survey was conducted in March 2010 to gauge the customer satisfaction level of Land Registry's services and for identifying areas for enhancing the services.

About 450 customers' opinions were collected. The overall satisfaction rate of our services is over 84%. Results on the major service areas are listed below:

	Overall Satisfaction Rate (%)
Service	Provision of Service	Staff Performance
Lodgement of Deeds	89.0	90.0
Counter Search	94.1	95.0
IRIS Online Services	82.5	Not Applicable

The survey also tapped customers' views on e-Memorial Form and title registration system. Comments received provided valuable information for planning the projects.

(vi) Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) The functions and capacity of the IVRS of the Land Registry's customer service hotline (3105 0000) was further improved in 2009/10 to enhance system security and add convenience to customers: fax requests from callers without caller-IDs displayed disallowed so as to strengthen the security of the system; number of service telephone lines doubled from 12 to 24; and call flow streamlined by moving popular options such as “talk to operator” forward in the menu.

(vii) Liaison with Customers Customer Liaison Groups Two Customer Liaison Groups, one for private sector customers and one for Government departments and public bodies, have been set up for regular liaison and communication with our stakeholders. The objectives of the Customer Liaison Groups are: to improve the Land Registry's understanding of customers' needs and expectations; to improve customers' understanding of the Land Registry's policies, services and procedures; and to exchange views on operational and service delivery issues.

Visitors

The Land Registry maintains close ties with its counterparts in all parts of the world for cross-fertilisation. Through meeting visitors from overseas and the Mainland, we introduce our services and promote the value of the Land Registry as well as learn from our counterparts' best practices in other jurisdictions.

In 2009/10, we received two delegations comprising 36 visitors from Beijing, Shanghai and Shandong who were interested in our work and the land registration system in Hong Kong.


Reaching Out to Customers

To enhance users' knowledge of land records and understanding of the reports-on-title services, four “Meet the Clients” sessions for the Buildings Department, Planning Department, Hong Kong Police Force, Home Affairs Department and Fire Services Department with a total of 200 participants were held during the year.

In addition, seven briefing sessions with 225 participants from private and public sectors were held in February and March 2010 to introduce the enhanced features of the IRIS Online Services, and provide updates on progress in implementation of a new search system and enhanced functions of the e-Memorial Form.

Both activities had provided an effective platform for sharing work knowledge and experience, exchanging views and identifying means to streamline work procedures, and collecting views on our services.


Land Registry Open Day

As part of our efforts to promote better understanding of the role and functions of the Land Registry, we arranged a series of well-received guided tours to the Customer Centre, the Central Imaging Centre and the Land Registry Archive for 170 visitors in March 2010.

Historic and rare land records, such as Memorial No. 1 registered in 1844, deeds registered during the Japanese Occupation and the Street Index published in 1894, were showcased. The event bore witness to transformation of the Land Registry over the years as Hong Kong developed into a world-class economy.

(viii) Communication Channels

The Land Registry makes use of a wide spectrum of communication channels to promote and update its services, to receive feedbacks from customers on service quality, and to identify improvement areas, including:

Land Registry Circular Memoranda

In 2009/10, we have issued five Land Registry Circular Memoranda to update stakeholders of the changes in land registration related policy, operations, practices and procedures, and the new initiatives and services.

Land Registry's Homepage

During the year, there were over four million visits (70% on the Chinese language and 30% on the English language) to the Land Registry's homepage, representing an increase of 25% when compared with 2008/09.

IRIS Website

To facilitate communication with the users of the IRIS Online Services, broadcast messages are posted on the IRIS website to notify users of any service enhancements or changes in a timely manner.