Wigan Borough’s new multi-million pound public services ‘hub’ – the Wigan Life Centre, is officially open for business.
And early reports from opening day today (Monday January 9) suggest that business is good!
Situated between Hewlett Street and The Wiend in the heart of Wigan Town Centre, the 6500 sq ft building is the culmination of the council’s £217M Life Centre project.
Called the Information, Learning and Neighbourhood Zone, it offers residents of the borough a new ‘gateway’ to all public services in the borough through a state-of-the-art customer contact centre.
The centre also boasts a new public library, including children’s and reference sections along with community space and offices for various voluntary sector organisations.
The Life Centre officially opened its doors to the public from 9am and staff with the council’s Citizens’ Support Service reported a positive start to proceedings.
First to be served was Wigan resident Alais Jardo, who was welcomed by Customer Services Officer Janet Hayes and visited the Citizens’ Advice Bureau (pictured). Mr Jardo said: “I was made to feel very welcome and got the help I needed straight away. I am delighted with the new building and the services it offers.”
Citizens’ Support Service Manager Anthony Mohammed says: “We have seen quite a few members of the public already this morning and I think it is fair the say that the majority have been very impressed.
“We have been able to cross-refer quite a few people to different services for information and advice. So, for example, people turning up for benefits’ advice have also been referred for information about housing and someone turning up for advice on planning matters has also been able to find out extra information as well.”
Life Centre staff receive their GovMetric Award from Cllr Chris Ready on opening day.
By working in this way, the council and its partners aim to answer 80 per cent of customer queries through the first visit.
The work of the council in delivering high quality customer care was recognised nationally as the Life Centre opened. GovMetric, the UK-wide customer services group who work with local authorities and national government, awarded Wigan with a national prize for its customer care team – number two in the country against wide ranging national competition. Cllr Chris Ready, cabinet champion for customer services, presented the Life Centre team with the trophy. He said: “This is an excellent first day and demonstration nationally of the great work done here in Wigan.”
At the same time, Chief Executive Joyce Redfearn led a team of senior regional leaders from the North West Improvement and Efficiency Forum on a tour of the building.
There has also been a steady stream of visitors to the new look Wigan Library situated on the ground floor of the new building.
Cllr Ready adds: “”The Life Centre represents a massive investment for our borough and also a massive investment in our residents. We want to break down any barriers that exist between the public and service-providers to enable us to create a confident place and confident people.
“We are providing modern information and learning facilities together with a streamlined and joined-up approach to customer services that we believe will improve residents’ satisfaction with council and other public services.
“At a time of economic uncertainty it is great to see a major building project such as this, which has created jobs and will support the future regeneration of our borough, come to fruition. I would urge any resident of the borough who wants to find out more to visit the Life Centre and see this great new facility at first-hand.”
