NEATH PORT TALBOT Council has approved plans to reduce operating hours of telephone lines available to customers in the council tax section following a recent review.
The move, which was given the go-ahead in May, will now see access hours cut by around five and a half hours per week.
A published report said this would be done in order to “encourage greater use of digital channels”.
The reduction would also serve to create additional staff capacity for what was described as priority work in council tax collection activities.
The decision published by the authority said: “Reducing telephone availability is necessary to create capacity for priority work.
“Current call volumes place considerable pressure on the service, limiting officers’ ability to focus on key council tax collection activities.
“Promoting the use of digital channels will help manage demand more effectively, improve service efficiency, and ensure resources are directed toward work that delivers the greatest impact on collection performance while still supporting customers.
“Reliance on telephone contact also restricts opportunities to modernise and reduces the time available for staff to carry out more complex tasks.”
The report added that over the past 12 months the service had handled more than 57,000 telephone calls showing the scale of demand placed on the team.
With many of these said to be relating to “routine or transactional matters” it was considered that they could be completed more efficiently through online forms.
