Proposed changes to face to face customer services

Background

You can contact us in several ways to get help and information about our services including by telephone, online, self-serve, email, web chat (messaging one of our staff during office hours), chatbot (automated messages to answer common queries), social media and face to face through our Customer Access Points (CAPs). 

There are currently eight CAPs across the county located in Barnard Castle, Stanley, Seaham, Spennymoor, Durham City, Crook, Chester-le-Street and Consett which support residents who are struggling to access our services online or over the phone.

At present, 90% of the enquiries we receive are made by phone, email or online. And despite opening hours being reduced at the four least used CAPs last October, demand for face-to-face customer services remains low, with only 38% of available appointment slots being used since these changes were introduced.

What's being proposed

We want to ensure that the remaining 10% of our residents, who cannot access our services in any way, other than face to face, are best served by what we provide.

Our aim now, therefore, is to develop a more responsive offer which delivers customer service support to the places it is most needed. So, rather than continuing to spend unused appointment time in our current CAP locations, we are exploring opportunities to serve wider community needs by providing support across more locations in the county, benefiting you with increased choice, reduced travel requirements and a better service overall.

This does, however, require a reduction in the opening times of our current CAPs to avoid increasing our costs to deliver the service. The following new opening days are therefore proposed at our current locations:

• Barnard Castle: Wednesday
• Chester-le-Street: Monday
• Consett: Wednesday
• Crook: Wednesday
• Durham City (Clayport): Thursday
• Spennymoor: Thursday
• Seaham: Friday
• Stanley: Tuesday

How the proposals have been developed

The opening days for the existing CAPs have been suggested following a review of appointment data, along with knowledge of what is happening in the CAPs' local areas. This has helped us recommend the best opening times to match resident demand. We have also considered feedback from some residents during appointments and our consultation last year, who said their nearest CAP was further away than they would like.

Have your say

Before we develop these proposals further, we'd like to hear what you think of the proposals and how they might affect you.

What happens next

We will use your responses to help us understand more about where face to face services are needed and in the further shaping of these proposals. A plan will then be developed and will be presented to our Cabinet for agreement no later than December 2024.

Should new opening hours and locations be agreed, they will be available in our Customer Access Points section as well as in our venues across the county.