Late night opening at Council offices

Copyright NNDC

A new initiative to make things easier for members of the public who cannot always get to North Norfolk District Council offices in Cromer during working hours will start next month.

The initiative, which was suggested by members of staff themselves, will see the 'late night opening' of the benefits and council tax enquiry desk on one Wednesday evening each month. Staff will be on hand until 7pm to help with enquiries regarding housing and council tax benefits, council tax, business rates, and debt recovery, except for council housing arrears.

The dates of the 'late opening' scheme, which will run for a trial period of six months, are 19 June, 17 July, 14 August, 11 September, 9 October and 6 November. Visitors will be invited to complete comment cards to help assess the success of the initiative.

"The idea arose out of a staff meeting where we were discussing ways of improving our service to members of the public," said Maureen Wells, Business Support Officer in the Council's Revenues section. "All of us who work in, or are involved with, the Benefits and Council Tax Reception are aware that many people find it a bit of a struggle to get to the offices in working hours or during the lunch break, so we felt we could make life a little easier for them by extending our hours of operation. If the pilot scheme works, we'll be happy to continue with the late night opening."

For more information about the scheme, please contact Maureen Wells on 01263 516116