Sandwell Council's one stop shop open more hours (From Halesowen News)

Sandwell Council's one stop shop open more hours

1:00pm Saturday 29th September 2012 in News

SANDWELL Council House is to open longer in a bid to make life easier for residents to report problems and pay bills.

The decision has been made after deputy council leader Councillor Mahboob Hussain said the council needed to be more flexible to meet the demands of the modern world.

The Council House in Oldbury , will now be open late on a Wednesday until 7pm and on a Saturday from 10am to 1pm. The plan is to give families more time to pop in, take advice and access services.

The new scheme will be run as a pilot for for six months to see how popular it is with residents.

The money to open the extra hours, which will start next month, will be met from existing resources in the council budget.

Councillor Hussain said: “The world is changing and lots of people work more flexible hours these days.That means they need their council to be more flexible.

“We already offer a range of services online so residents can, for example, pay their council tax, report a pothole or request a bulky waste collection 24 hours a day. "

The One Stop Shop is currently open from 8am to 5.30pm Monday to Thursday and to 5pm on Fridays.