8:47am Thursday 18th March 2010
By Richard Harris
Selby District Council hopes to save £35,000 by cutting the hours its advice centres are open.
The Access Selby contact centre in Market Cross shopping centre and the contact centre in Tadcaster’s Westgate, are currently open from 9am to 5pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and from 10am to 5pm on Wednesdays.
But as part of an ongoing efficiency review, council officers have recommended opening the centres, which give information about council services, half an hour later on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and closing an hour earlier each day.
In a report, councillors are told the survey of Access Selby, carried out between September of last year and January, revealed there were an average of six enquiries a day between 9am and 9.30am at the centre.
For the last hour of the day this had dropped to around four inquiries. The busiest time was from 11am through the lunch period with an average of between seven and eight inquiries each hour.
It is expected similar results will apply to Tadcaster.
If the centres were closed one hour earlier there would be a saving of 20 staff hours each week and with a change in shift patterns this would yield a saving of £13,000.
But in order to achieve the £35,000 target there needs to be a 53-hour reduction in staff hours which would could be achieved by opening half an hour later.
Alternatively, opening between 10am and 4pm every day would save £50,000.
Council officers said it is not known what impact reduced opening hours would have on the service, but closing an hour earlier is unlikely to cause many problems due to the low number of customers. They recommended the 9.30am to 4pm opening and closing times be trialled for six months.
Councillors will vote on the proposals at a meeting on Tuesday.
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