Kingsholm & Wotton
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Vanishing council to lock front doors once a month
8 Jun 2018
Liberal Democrat leader, Cllr. Jeremy Hilton has responded to the decision of the Conservative controlled Gloucester City Council to close its customer advice reception and contact centre to the public on the last Wednesday of every month. The first closure will be on the 30th of May.
Cllr. Hilton has described the decision made by Cllr. David Norman as another example of the 'vanishing council'.
Cllr.Jeremy Hilton (Lib Dem - Kingsholm & Wotton) said:
"Under Conservative control the city council continues to contract and services to the community diminish. It has certainly become a 'vanishing council'.
"Last year the cabinet cut the hours the reception was open every day. It now closes at 3pm rather than 5pm as it once did. In future the doors will be closed once a month for a whole day.
"Residents arriving at the council on the last Wednesday of the month will be shocked and annoyed to see the doors locked to the council offices. If they phone the contact centre they will find their call will be unanswered. They will be frustrated they cannot speak to a person face to face to help solve their enquiry.
"Due to staff cuts imposed by the Tories, the council's customer service team is overstretched and no longer has the resilience to cope with the demands placed on it.
"A good council would keeps its customer reception and contact centre open every working day. It should be able to organise staff training without locking the front doors.
"This vanishing council is letting the people of Gloucester down. It's customer advice reception and contact centre should be open every day Monday to Friday."
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