In light of the financial challenges we face due to government spending reductions and rising costs, we have to find ways of making savings across all council services. We also have a duty to make sure that we're using our resources as responsibly and cost effectively as possible in order to maintain services that matter to our residents, particularly those most vulnerable.

Customer Services operates face to face offices all across Shropshire. At our offices, customers can access and get help with many council services.

We recognise the importance of maintaining accessible services for our customers, especially as, increasingly, we help people who have more complex needs or who are unable to use other methods of doing business with us.

The number of customers calling in to see us has reduced by more than half over the last few years (see table), but we've kept the opening hours of our offices unchanged.

There may be many reasons why we've seen such a large drop in the numbers of people we see, such as the fact that many people now use other means of doing business, including the phone, email or online services. Along with every other part of the council, we have a duty to make sure that we're using our resources as responsibly and cost effectively as possible in order to keep services running.

This consultation isn't about closing our offices. It's about matching the hours that our staff are available at these offices to the changing demand, and to make sure that we spend enough time with those who need our help. This would mean that we could to use our resources more cost effectively, meeting the needs of local people and at the same time using any efficiencies elsewhere. 

For some time our offices have had self-service telephones and public computers installed, and these would remain so that customers could speak to an adviser or go online when the building is open but Customer Services staff are not here.

We have an opportunity to look critically and sensibly at the times we have staff present in our offices, and to make adjustments that are fair to our customers and that still help us to meet the financial challenges we face. 

We're proposing changes to the times during which Customer Service staff are in the office and available to help customers at the following offices: Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Ludlow, Bridgnorth, Whitchurch and Market Drayton. 

Below are details of the proposed new opening times for each office:

The survey we're inviting you to complete, available via the 'How to get involved' button on this page, lays out how our customer service points might operate in the future, and what this means for customers. The survey is also available as a hard copy form at your local customer service point.

Please note that no formal decision has been made at this stage.

The information we receive through this consultation will be used to inform any decision making on the future delivery of customer services at these offices. The consultation will run from Monday 12 September to Friday 7 October 2016.

The survey allows you to choose to comment on the office you use, or which is nearest to you, or to make a general comment on our proposals.

The potential impact of any changes on our customers is being assessed through the completion of an equality and social inclusion impact assessment (ESIIA). This is something we complete to show that we've been fair when looking at the needs of customers, especially those who might be affected more by any changes we might make.  

We do have a preferred option that we feel would work, but we'll listen to and consider any other proposals or suggestions that are made through this consultation period.

Our preferred proposal for the future delivery of customer services at the offices named above would be:

• To continue to run the service for five days a week so that customers who are in need can still access crisis payments and services throughout the working week
• Customer Service staff will be available to help customers each day, but for a shorter day than now.

The “self-serve” facilities will still be available throughout the day for our customers to use, including the times when Customer Service staff are not on site.  (The public freephone is linked to our customer service centre, which can deal with most enquiries, and public computers can be used for online business). 

What are you proposing?

Fewer customers are calling into our face to face customer service points now, so we're proposing that Customer Service advisers should be available for fewer hours each day to match the new demand.

Why are you doing this?

Over the last few years we have seen the number of customers calling in to see us reduce by more than half but at the same time we have kept our opening hours unchanged.

We need to match our opening hours to the number of customers we're now seeing, but we still need to make sure that we spend enough time with those who need our help. Matching the hours that staff are available more closely to the number of customers calling to see us will also help us to make financial savings across Customer Services.

How much money will this save?

Revising the times when staff are available will contribute to a saving of £227,000 which we're required to make across our service. 

Isn’t this just a cut?

It's easy to see it as that, especially as we have to find savings, but that isn’t what this is about. We know that more and more people go online or use automated payments or the telephone for business. Younger generations want to contact us by new methods, such as online services and social media, and we're building for the future. All of this impacts on the numbers of customers having to call in, and we need to match our hours to this revised demand.    

If I need help, will I still be able to see someone?

Yes you will. This isn't about closing the service. We think it makes sense to look critically at how many hours we staff our offices so that we match this more closely to the reduced number of customers we're seeing.  

Will I have enough time for my enquiry?

Some of the enquiries we help with only take a short time, others may take longer. We've looked at the number of people calling into our offices, the reasons for their visit and the times that people call in, and taken this into account. We believe the proposed opening hours will allow us on average at least 25 minutes with each customer. Some enquiries do take longer than this, but many don't take this long.

Will I have to wait to be seen?

Unfortunately we have peak times at the moment when customers have to wait to be seen, and we appreciate that there will be a settling in period for any new arrangements when this might still be the case. At busy times customers could also use the freephone to the customer service centre, which can help with most things, or use the public computers to contact us as well.     

How many days will you be open for?

We still aim to remain open for five days a week, Monday to Friday. Customer Services is the access point for many council services, but in particular for people who find themselves in crisis (for example at risk of homelessness or require access to local support and prevention payments). We don't feel that days of full closure are appropriate for us, and we believe we should remain accessible.

How many hours per day will you be open?

We've looked at the number of customers calling in, and also at the busiest times of the day and the times that our partner services use the office, and tried to match these up in order to make a recommendation to our customers. Recommendations for each of the service centres can be found on the survey linked to this page via the 'How to get involved' tab.

What happens if I call in and there are no Customer Service staff available?

Either side of the times during which our staff will be present our freephone service will be available for use. This will link you through to our customer service centre, which can deal with most enquiries. We also have free-to-use public computers for those able to do business this way, and these will have “how to” guides attached to them showing how to do things online.

Why can’t the library just run this?

We're looking at ways in which we might be able to work more closely with our colleagues in Library Services, particularly with helping customers to use the phones and computers. Each job requires specialist knowledge, so while we may work more closely together it's less likely that either service can take on the other’s work.     

What will happen to Customer Services staff?

The intention is to redeploy staff to other duties. We're seeing fewer customers face to face which is why we need to review our opening hours, but at the same time we need staff to respond to customers who are coming to us in different ways, such as by phone or social media, and by providing online help such as webchat.