'Easy' access to Council services

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council launches ‘It’s Easy’ – a Public Access campaign - tomorrow (21 September) to promote the seven easy ways in which local residents can contact the Council and access its services.

These seven easy ways, which include new and improved technology, include Viewpoint webcams, by phone, One Stop Shops, the Council website, i-plus kiosks, by letter and through the A-Z Guide to Council Services.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of how easy it is to get in touch with the Council by phone on a single contact number 0845 612 612 6 (standard rates apply); at our network of One Stop Shops at Guisborough, Redcar and Eston as well as the mobile One Stop Shop bus which travels throughout East Cleveland and Nunthorpe.

The campaign also demonstrates how the Council is embracing the use of modern technology to bring access to services for residents who can now speak directly with confidential advisors using a Viewpoint Webcam available at 11 libraries in the Borough.

Also available is the i-plus kiosk network – an interactive screen and keyboard available in Brotton, Marske and Ormesby libraries, Lingdale Village Hall and at Redcar High Street.

Residents can always contact the council by letter addressed to one of the four main council buildings or via the website at www.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk.

In the past few weeks, the Council has also published its first-ever A to Z Guide to Council Services which has been distributed to every household in the Redcar and Cleveland area.

The launch coincides with the arrival of ‘Adshel’ posters to promote the campaign across the Borough which each feature a member of Council staff. Also being launched is the ‘It’s Easy’ contact guide which is available at libraries and Council offices.

Cllr Glyn Nightingale, Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: “We are getting out into the local community and getting in touch with local residents in libraries, high streets towns and villages as well as delivering information about how to access Council services to each and every home across the area. Above all, we are not just sitting back waiting for residents to come to us.

“In the past three years, we have considerably increased the ways in which residents can contact the Council to access our services and our staff are trained to deliver consistently high standards of customer service using a variety of methods to communicate with residents, including Typetalk and new technology.

“As a Council providing key local services, residents expect us to be responsive to their needs and deserve the best services possible that are accessible in the most convenient way possible.

“We have worked hard to ensure residents can contact us in a variety of ways – some have been in operation for the past two years, some are new services using the latest in technology – now we are promoting these services to residents to make sure that the greatest number of people are aware of them and able to use them in the most convenient manner for them.”

The Public Access Viewpoint webcams have been launched in partnership with Redcar and Cleveland Mind, The Junction, Citizens Advice Bureau, Cleveland Police (Domestic Abuse) and Women’s Aid.