New Information and Advice Centre

When I was first elected to the Council 13 years ago, many residents were complaining about how difficult it was to communicate with the Council.

When they phoned with a query or problem they were passed from one person to another - if they got through in the first place, that is.

When they turned up in person they didn't know where to go or who to speak to, and would sometimes be berated for speaking to the 'wrong' person.

When they wrote a letter they got a reply written in a complex official style that was often difficult to interpret.

Eight years ago, when the Liberal Democrats took control of Kingston Council, I was given a role with responsibility for Communications and Participation. The first thing I did was to set up a Better Letters campaign. This enforced the use of Plain English in all Council letters. We even gave an award for the most improved standard letter.

We also created the first phone contact centres, for Environmental Services and Council Tax & Housing Benefit. When you phoned a dedicated number you spoke pretty immediately to someone, and the aim was that the person who answered the phone should be able to deal with at least 90% of the queries. Call management software was installed, so that the staff could see exactly how many people were queueing, and so that other staff could be brought on to the system at busy times. This was a huge improvement on what we had to put up with before.

Another innovation under my watch were the new Information points staffed by people who could help with queries on any Council service. They were positioned at the main desks at the Guildhall, and at the Malden Centre and in the South of the Borough Neighbourhood Office in Elm Road. This last was moved across to the Hook Centre when it opened.

Lots of other steps have been taken since then to improve communications, and the latest has been quietly launched this year.

The new Information and Advice Centre is in Guildhall 2, which is the building behind the main Guildhall that straddles the Hogsmill River. (Look out for the resident heron)

When you go in through the main door you are greeted by one of the Information Staff, as in the photo. Tell them what you need advice on - anything to do with the Council - and they will try to help you directly.

If you need to see a specialist they will log you in and direct you across the hallway to the attractive advice area. Here you should wait no longer than 10 minutes to see someone.

In the background, similar work is going on to bring all the phone contact centres together into one Information and Advice help line. Don't worry - this is not going to be outsourced to another country. When you phone you will be speaking to a Kingston council employee located in the Borough.