Saturday opening at contact centre is set to end

SATURDAY opening at Swansea Council’s contact centre is due to come to an end this weekend.

Thanks to a rising number of customer-friendly online services introduced by the council over the last few years, the number of people seeking Saturday support and information has been steadily falling.

And although Saturday services in the Central Library and Coastline Café at the civic centre won’t be affected, full contact centre services will be available only on weekdays.

Clive Lloyd, Cabinet Member for Transformation and Performance, said: “The Contact Centre provides an important service to residents and we want to make sure that our staff with all their expertise and experience are available when people want them.

“The number of people wanting to use the Saturday service has been declining steadily to the point that our staff see only a handful of the 2,000 visitors who come through the doors every week.

“By closing the Saturday service we’ll be able to devote more effort to those times of the week when people actually need us.”

The changes are just one part of a transformation of the contact centre service this summer which will also see digital self-service zones which will help visitors do their business with the council more quickly.

Customer service agents will be able to provide assistance for those who need it while anyone who needs face-to-face support will still be able to find it at the contact centre

Cllr Lloyd said a range of services such as paying Council Tax, reporting road or street light defects and housing repairs can already be done 24-7 online without the need for a visit to the Contact Centre.