Council to reopen customer services for appointments only

The public will be able to make appointments to visit the Customer Services team, located in The Symington Building in Adam and Eve Street, Market Harborough, by calling 01858 828282 or by booking online at www.harborough.gov.uk/f2fappointment from 12noon on Thursday 9 July.

Customers will be triaged to establish the nature of their enquiry and if they are able to access the service from home, online, or by telephone, they will be asked to do so. 

Appointments will be only be offered to those who have no other means of undertaking their transaction with the Council. Payments for services will not be taken through the appointment service. 

Cllr Paul Dann, Harborough District Council’s Cabinet lead for corporate services, said: “We are pleased that, having put new measures in place, we are able to reopen to help customers with their essential enquiries. However, the safety of customers and our staff is paramount and it is crucial that people only visit customer services if they have a pre-booked appointment.”

Appointments will be offered on Mondays and Wednesdays only between 10am and 12noon and between 1pm and 4pm.  There will be no internal seated waiting area for customers and, to limit access to the building, only one customer per enquiry will be allowed unless the customer is vulnerable or exceptional circumstances apply.

Only customers with a pre-booked appointment will be able to see a customer services advisor – our walk-in service is not available.  Once entering the Customer Services area people will be required to follow the signage and support the 2m social distancing.  A hand sanitising station will be available on entering the building which customers will be required to use.

People who visit the Council to see a customer services advisor without an appointment will be asked to contact the Council as noted above and make an appointment.

The public access computers are not in use and there are no toilets available for use by members of the public. This is to ensure that the number of people in the building is always kept to a minimum.

Customer Service Advisors have been supplied with the relevant PPE including face coverings, gloves and hand sanitiser for their personal use, and our customer services desks have been fitted with plastic screening. We will also be carrying out cleaning on a regular basis to help reduce the risk of infecting others.