Camden New Journal - Letters: Customer services under fire

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Camden New Journal - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 27 September 2007

Customer services under fire

• THE continuing concern expressed by many readers over Careline and the hush-hush way in which changes were made to this service for the vulnerable is not the end of the story.
At the last possible meeting before the summer, the Town Hall rushed through a report on “customer service” which could see the closure of the vast majority of face-to-face offices which residents use to pay their bills, report repairs, flytipping or graffiti.
In the same way that they are taking away public advertisements for choice-based lettings and forcing people to use the phone or the internet, they are now planning to close down many places across the borough which people regularly go to to report their concerns. Not everyone has the internet, and we all know how much easier it is to be fobbed off on the phone, or be passed fruitlessly from department to department.
It’s very short-sighted of the council to do this, and I fear this will really hurt the elderly, people with poor English, or those who find it difficult to deal with many complex council rules. And all this is on top of the cuts in funding to our local advice services!
The leadership needs to consider how money-saving wheezes dreamed up in the Town Hall affect real people’s lives.
Sally Gimson
Chairwoman
Gospel Oak Labour Branch, NW5

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, Camden New Journal, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@camdennewjournal.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Tuesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld. Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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