Town Hall, how can I help you?

Half of the ground floor of the town hall in Victoria Square will be transformed into a massive open plan one stop contact centre that will be able to deal with face to face and telephone inquiries about any service the council provides.

The centre, which will be fully up and running in the summer, will replace more than 10 different council receptions for different services currently dotted around the town centre.

It is expected to receive about 300,000 visitors a year.

Tracy Fielding, assistant director of customer services said: "At the moment when you ring up the council you can be passed around between four different people before you reach the right person. Similarly, you can spend time queuing up at a counter to speak to somebody only to find you have come to the wrong place, which can be quite frustrating.

"With the One Stop centre we are creating one area where people can get an answer to almost any query regarding the council."

A total of 90 phone lines will be installed in the centre, there will be 19 counter positions and five private interview rooms.

About 100 staff made up of a combination of current and new workers recruited mainly from call centres, will run the centre.

They will undergo a 10 week training programme, at a cost of £1,000 per staff member, where they will be trained to handle enquiries.

People will also be able to contact the centre on line from desginated access points in libraries and local offices. By 2005 council ciefs hope their website www.bolton.gov.uk will be fully interactive.

Cllr Laurie Williamson said: "All this will make our services easier to access and residents will be able to get the help they want through one contact point."

It is anticipated that centre staff will be able to deal with 80 per cent of enquiries and the policy is that in cases where they are unable to help, staff will keep track of the call until the enquiry is resolved.

The "one stop" concept has been piloted at Farnworth Town Hall for the past three years where housing, finance and social services enquiries were dealt with in one reception.

Eighty five per cent of visitors who were questioned about the service said they thought it was an improvement and there was a consensus that the idea should be developed elsewhere in Bolton.

Work will begin in the town hall around Christmas time and the first phase will be complete by the spring. The rest of the project is expected to be completed in the summer. Business will carry on as normal within the town

hall while work is carried out.

WORK is about to start on a new £1 million contact centre which will handle all inquiries about Bolton Council services .

Half of the ground floor of the town hall in Victoria Square will be transformed into a massive open plan one stop contact centre that will be able to deal with face to face and telephone inquiries about any service the council provides.

The centre, which will be fully up and running in the summer, will replace more than 10 different council receptions for different services currently dotted around the town centre.

It is expected to receive about 300,000 visitors a year.

Tracy Fielding, assistant director of customer services said: "At the moment when you ring up the council you can be passed around between four different people before you reach the right person. Similarly, you can spend time queuing up at a counter to speak to somebody only to find you have come to the wrong place, which can be quite frustrating.

"With the One Stop centre we are creating one area where people can get an answer to almost any query regarding the council."

A total of 90 phone lines will be installed in the centre, there will be 19 counter positions and five private interview rooms.

About 100 staff made up of a combination of current and new workers recruited mainly from call centres, will run the centre.

They will undergo a 10 week training programme, at a cost of £1,000 per staff member, where they will be trained to handle enquiries.