Warwickshire News Mine

Almost 13,000 enquiries have been dealt with by Warwickshire Direct in Shire Hall, Warwick, over the last 12 months, offering people a face to face resolution to their queries.

This weekend is the first anniversary of the opening, and to mark the occasion Warwickshire Direct is holding a birthday party tomorrow (Saturday) including cake, refreshments and free children’s face painting and colouring.

And coinciding with the celebrations Warwickshire Direct has today announced that in response to customer needs new surgeries will be available from the 14 July from both Warwickshire Police Safer Neighbourhoods team and the Citizen’s Advice Bureau. 

To mark the launch of these new surgeries and celebrate the past year’s success, local residents are invited to join staff at a special first birthday open morning this Saturday.

Advisors will be on hand between 10am and 2pm from a variety of services including the Family Information Service, Shakespeare Country tourism, Trading Standards, Economic Development & Regeneration, the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and PHILLIS - a service which offers information on support services available for older people.

The Warwick District Council Waste Management team will also be on hand offering recycling bags and boxes, and Warwickshire County Council Registration Services will be providing information about their services – including how to find your birth records online!

Along with this, visitors will be able to talk to the Warwickshire Police Safer Neighbourhoods team about issues affecting the local community on board the Mobile Police Unit.

There will also be a variety of activities in the Market Square on the day as part of the Warwick International Festival. Plus visitors will be able to pick up a free goody bag by completing a quick survey.

Councillor Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Customers, Workforce and Partnerships at Warwickshire County Council said: “We are constantly striving to make it as easy as possible for the people of Warwickshire to talk to us and have their needs met in the most convenient way.

"Our partnership working with other district and borough councils to provide Warwickshire Direct ‘one stop shops’ in towns around the county is a key part of this and has been a huge success. We look forward to celebrating this success next week and welcoming more people through the doors of Shire Hall to discover the range of services on offer. It’s a fantastic facility for local residents.”

Councillor Les Caborn, WDC Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Customer and Information Services said: “We are absolutely delighted that so many people have taken advantage of the increased access to information and services over the past year and discovered that there is now so much more on offer!

"The aim was to bring services closer to people in Warwick so they don’t have to travel and ‘Warwickshire Direct’ has undoubtedly achieved that. All credit goes to the customer service advisers for making it a success in its first year”.

The joint venture between Warwickshire County Council and Warwick District Council was officially launched last July by Olympic swimming star Sharron Davis, and offers easy access to a range of council services and services from partner organisations, including the Post Office, all under one roof.

Warwickshire Direct at Shire Hall followed in the success of other Warwickshire Direct ‘one stop shops’ around the district in locations including Kenilworth and Whitnash. More recently a branch has opened within Lillington Library.
In the year since its launch Warwickshire Direct advisors at Shire Hall have received close to 13,000 enquiries (12793) ranging from housing and benefits advice, to bus passes and waste management information.

The top 10 most popular enquiries over the past 12 months were:

Housing
Benefits
Bus Passes
Council Tax
Local Information
Waste Management
Blue Badges
Car Parks
Student Finance
Highways

‘Warwickshire Direct‘ at Shire Hall is open:

Monday to Thursday 8am – 5.30pm
Friday   8am – 5pm
Saturday   9am – 4pm
For more information visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/warwickshiredirect

Link to WCC