Changes to Help and Advice Surgeries in Town Centres

North Norfolk District Council is introducing surgeries at Holt for people with benefits, council tax, business rates and other inquiries next month while, unfortunately, similar surgeries will cease in Cromer because of a lack of demand.

From Friday, 1 October, a six-month pilot of surgeries will start at Holt Library, on Church Street, where NNDC staff will be on hand to help with questions about housing and council tax benefits, council tax, business rates, debt recovery (but not council housing rent arrears), rail and bus passes, and car park season tickets. The staff will also be able to take payments for these things by cheque or debit/credit card (but not cash).

The Holt surgeries will be held on the first and third Friday of each month, from 10am to 12 noon, up to and including March 2005, when NNDC will decide whether demand is sufficient for them to continue.

In Cromer, however, similar surgeries at the town's library have now stopped after a year, because they were not well-used.

The Stalham surgeries, introduced about 18 months ago, continue to be well-attended. They are held from 10am to 12 noon on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month, and will go on until March 2005 at least (there will only be one in December 2004, on the 14th, because of the Christmas break).

NNDC's Business Support Officer Maureen Wells said: "We would like to thanks those who have supported us, and assure them that the experience gained will be fed into any future review of customer services.