Accessing Council Services - New Times and Places

NNDC is widening access to its services even further, after launching evening opening and Stalham and Wells surgeries in the last year.

The first new initiative will see a benefits and council tax surgery held once a month in the heart of Cromer. From 10am to 1pm on the fourth Thursday of each month, starting on 28 August, members of Council's Customer Service Team will be at the Women's Health Information and Support Service (WHISS) shop on Bond Street to give advice and deal with inquiries regarding:

• housing and council tax benefits
• council tax
• business rates
• bus, rail and car park passes
• debt recovery (except for council house rent arrears).

The officers will be able to take payments by cheques or debit cards (not cash or credit cards), and the Pension Service will also be on hand at these times to help with pensions queries. This new service has been established with the help of NNDC's Benefits Help and Advice Team.

From Wednesday, 1 October, the surgery held twice a month at Wells-next-the-Sea will move from the Citizens' Advice Bureau at Jicklings Yard to the Library on Station Road, in the centre of town, in a bid to make it more accessible and improve its profile among local people. The times for this surgery are unchanged (10.15am to 12.15pm on the first and third Wednesdays of each month). The District Council's housing surgery (which has run at the same time and place as the benefits and council tax service) will still be held at the CAB, on the same days and at the same time as before.

At Stalham, the monthly benefits and council tax surgery at the Library in the High Street has proved so popular that another date will be added each month. From Tuesday, 9 September, the surgery will now be held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month, from 10.15am to 12.15pm.

The Stalham and Wells surgeries offer the same services as the one in Cromer detailed above, but without pensions advice from the Pensions Service.

All these services will be reviewed in January 2004, to ensure they are meeting the needs of customers and are providing value for money.

Anyone with comments about these services, and how they can be improved, can write to Maureen Wells, PO Box 2, North Norfolk District Council, Holt Road, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 9EJ, or call her on 01263 516116.

The District Council's evening opening arrangements at its Holt Road office in Cromer will continue. The office will be open until 6.30pm on the second Wednesday of each month for benefits and council tax inquiries, either in the form of face-to-face visits, or over the telephone on 01263 516230 or 516116.

ENDS