Official opening gives Bedworth residents better access to council services
From Friday 24 November, Warwickshire County Council will have an increased presence in Bedworth with the official opening of King’s House, providing residents with direct access to county council services in the heart of the town centre.
The town centre building will house around 280 county council staff from across its education, social care, property, registration and customer service departments.
King’s House will also be home to ‘Warwickshire Direct – Bedworth’, an innovative new information and resource centre that will completely revolutionise the way people in Bedworth access council information and services.
It follows the success of ‘Warwickshire Direct – Kenilworth’, a similar centre in the south of the county that has benefited thousands of residents in Kenilworth since it opened in October 2005.
Councillor Alan Farnell, Leader of Warwickshire County Council, said: “Increasing our staff presence and improving public access to our services is good for the town and good for the residents of Bedworth.
“This is part of an exciting, bigger programme that the council is rolling out across the county, ‘joining up’ information and advice on a variety of council services and enabling residents to access them when and how they want to.”
Kushal Birla, Head of Customer Service & Access at Warwickshire County Council, said: “At ‘Warwickshire Direct – Bedworth’, residents will be able to have any queries about council services dealt with face-to-face by an advisor, who will find the answers for you.
“The county council provides a wide range of services, but we appreciate it is sometimes difficult to identify which services you could benefit from and how to access them. Our customer service advisors at Bedworth will try to make your contact with the council as easy as possible.”
There will be a special private area where residents can discuss confidential matters face-to-face with staff. Residents will even be able to register births, marriages and deaths at the new Bedworth office, rather than having to travel to Nuneaton Register Office.
Kushal Birla concluded: “The aim is to bring services closer to people in Bedworth so they don’t have to travel and we hope that ‘Warwickshire Direct – Bedworth’ will achieve that.”