Mystery Shoppers have been working hard in Bradford to find out where the local authority is doing well and where it might improve. The innovative project set up by Bradford Council is already paying off with areas of excellence being highlighted in Customer Service and Libraries.

The mystery shoppers who are ordinary residents have also discovered problems with council buildings and the attitude of staff to customers. In all, volunteer shoppers made 15 visits and 13 telephone calls during the pilot study. They also carried out 17 investigations online via the Council website.

Council Leader, Councillor Margaret Eaton welcomed the results. She said: "This exercise has been very helpful. Having members of the public 'playing' the mystery shoppers ensured we got realistic, honest, and sometimes unpredictable responses which will enable us to review the service we offer. This is a good example of active citizenship in practice."

The volunteer shoppers were mainly recruited from the Council's Focus Group for Older People. Disabled people also took part. Staff were told the mystery shop was to take place but not when and by whom. Senior managers were keen to take part to encourage improvement and foster best practice.

Six visits were made to Customer Service offices across the Bradford district. Useful comments were received about lack of privacy and some shoppers felt staff could have been more helpful. There were also issues about access to services. Some shoppers said they couldn't find their way into buildings and, once inside, they were crowded. However, most shoppers had to wait less than 10 minutes to be seen.

Shoppers visited nine libraries in the District and were asked to score 11 aspects of the service, such as furniture, internal signage, noise levels, stock and displays. None of the shoppers were regular users of the Council website but after training they were asked to find pieces of information on the website. Most people found the search facility easy to use, but there were some comments that the menu was difficult for people not familiar with the Council's structure.

The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Valerie Binney praised the work of the mystery shoppers after inviting them to a reception held in their honour. Those staff who were under scrutiny also came to the reception. "The Council is continually striving to improve customer services and by using members of the public as mystery shoppers we get straight to the truth, even though sometimes that might we uncomfortable. We have learnt so much from the pilot that we are now planning to establish a pool of mystery shoppers who will be representative of the District," she said.