DARLINGTON Council is considering spending £750,000 on extending and refurbishing its customer centre at the town hall.

The centre, which opened in 2005, is a busy hub for residents seeking the council’s assistance on matters including housing benefits, parking permits and local taxation.

But despite its relatively recent opening, the council now says it is ill-equipped to cope with an increasing demand on its services.

A report to be considered by cabinet members on Tuesday says that visitor numbers have increased significantly since 2005 and continue to rise due to residents seeking advice about the latest welfare reforms.

To accommodate this visitor increase, there are plans to create at least 13 new interview booths at the centre as well as an open-plan office space capable of housing around 25 workstations.

The plans also include self-service machines, a child’s play area and a large waiting area.

The report states: “At the time of opening the centre was equipped with a number of contact point desks and five private interview booths, with integrated queue management technology to assist in routing customers to where they needed to be.

“The centre was an adequate size for the average volume of customers being dealt with at the time of opening, however it was noted that on very busy days the centre could not cope well with customer numbers.”

On Tuesday the council’s cabinet will be asked to approve the release of £750,000 from its budget to enable the refurbishment to begin.

An extra £46,000 from the adults budget, which was originally set aside for the refurbishment of Central House reception, could also be reallocated to the customer centre on the assumption that the reception closes to casual callers upon completion of the extension.

A council spokeswoman said the improvements are part of an efficiency programme which has already saved the council around half a million pounds.

She added: “The council is extending and improving its customer centre as part of its on-going plans to rationalise customer access points to improve efficiency and to make contact easier for customers.

“The number of customers is increasing as more services are operated from the centre and as a result of changes implemented by the Government as part of their Welfare Reform programme.

“The project will also increase available office space in the town hall which is part of an efficiency programme to rationalise office accommodation which has so far delivered annual savings in the region of £0.5m.”