Kirklees Council: Plan to close Huddersfield's customer service centre

The customer service centre is currently located in the town's Civic Centre

Kirklees Council plans to close its Civic Centre customer service hub in Huddersfield in order to save money.

The centre offers residents support around various tasks such as accessing a computer, filling out forms and providing help about benefits.

It has prompted concerns about the impact on people who have trouble accessing the internet on their own.

A Kirklees Council spokesperson said customer services would be integrated within the town's library instead.

The authority, which needs to find about £47m of savings next year to balance its budget, was previously branded "no longer fit for purpose" by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Dewsbury's customer services team has already moved into the town's library due to maintenance works at its original site.

'More efficient'

The council said that now was the time to replicate this "integrative approach" elsewhere in the borough, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillor Paul Davies, authority deputy leader, said "in a world of challenging local government finances", the council had to be "more efficient in the way we deliver services to our residents".

He said the plans also reflected changes seen since the pandemic, with a "significant reduction in face-to-face inquiries" as residents used the internet to access support.

If the changes were approved, people would still be able to access help for a wide variety of issues, Mr Davies said.

He added: "Digital and telephony support will be available to ensure residents can still access the support they need including for those people who are not digitally savvy."