Borough Life Autum 2006: Better access for all
From Ants to Zebra Crossings, we’re at your service
Back in the spring we produced our first ever A-Z of council services for every household. It was a special Borough Life edition, and judging by the comments we’ve had since, it proved to be a winner.
Copies are now being given as part of a ‘welcome to our borough’ pack to all new council tax payers.
If you’ve lost your original copy, you can ring 01942 827164 or email boroughlife@wigan.gov.uk and we’ll happily send you another one.
The A-Z will be updated and reissued every year, but in the meantime here’s a reminder of the top 10 most requested council numbers:
- Bins and rubbish 404364
- Council tax 828696
- Pavements and road maintenance 404347
- Housing benefit and council tax benefit 828644
- Housing repairs 705040
- Street lighting problems 404331
- Social services 828777
- Property Shop (applying for a council house) 404128/404091
- Children and young peoples’ services 486123
- Main council switchboard 244991
- www.wigan.gov.uk
Remote, bureaucratic, unresponsive… local government is often called all these things. And, if we’re really honest, with some justification at times. But that’s certainly not how Wigan Council wants to be seen and it has big plans to make sure it gives...
Wigan Council’s priorities include making its services easier for everyone to access. And council chiefs are planning a programme of improvement which will see big changes over the next few years.
Already an award-winning call centre to deal with council housing problems has been provided by Wigan and Leigh Housing, and there’s also a special ‘street care’ helpline to report concerns about bins, street sweeping and fly tipping.
Further call centre expansion is being planned, with an eventual move to a new one stop shop for all council departments and other public services by 2010.
A new state of the art contact centre, library and leisure facilities will be developed in the centre of Wigan, with satellite contact points throughout the borough. It’s still subject to Government agreement and planning permission, but the signs are looking good.
In the meantime it is planned to provide a ‘one stop shop’ call centre for all environmental services – such as litter, bins, streetlights and potholes - during 2007, followed by one for benefits and council tax enquiries.
The services provided are likely to be available in the early evening and Saturdays.
Council chief executive Joyce Redfearn said: “We’ve already undertaken a lot of market research before embarking on this programme, which has included discussions with members of our Citizens’ Panel, and with other councils that have already followed this path. We will continue to consult widely on the plans as they are developed.”
Please tell us what you think
Like any big organisation, Wigan Council can and does get things wrong.
And when we do, we want you to tell us about so we can learn from our mistakes.
We have overhauled our complaints procedures, in reponse to surveys in which people told us they weren’t satisfied with the existing system.
There’s a new form which you can use to tell us if you’re not happy about the way we’ve provided a service.
You can also use it to comment on what we do or to compliment us about something that’s been done well.
You can get copies of it from Jan Collier, our customer services officer based at Leigh Town Hall tel. 01942 404402. You can also fill a form in online – just go to the A-Z of services at www.wigan.gov.uk, click C and scroll down to Complaints.
Connected council now open 24/7
Renewing a library book… reporting a broken streetlight… finding a job with the council… even paying a council bill or a parking fine.
They’ve all got one thing in common: you can do it on line with a couple of clicks of your mouse.
And these are just a few of the Wigan Council services you can now access from your computer.
Nine to five town halls have become a thing of the past as councils across England have made many of their services available online.
More than half of the borough’s homes are now connected to the Internet and so you can report a pothole, renew a library book, pay a council tax bill or tell us about a street light that isn’t working… all without leaving the house, 24 hours a day.
Busy parents can even find child care or apply for their child’s school place all from the comfort of their home at anytime of the day or night.
Independent research has shown that council websites are faster than those of many leading private sector businesses.
So why spend time on the phone, or trailing down to your nearest office? Simply go to www.wigan.gov.uk and search our A-Z of services.