£6.7m council service centre set to open

The Wilson Centre, close to the Guildhall, is named after the famous Wilson Line, the world's largest privately-owned shipping company and is expected to be the busiest of the city's nine customer service centres when it opens on Monday.

Officials say the new CSC, which replaces one on George Street, is driven by residents' preferences for "one-stop shops".

It will offer more than 130 services, with people able to apply for council tax and housing benefit and get a decision the same day. Residents can also register a birth or death, talk to planning and highways officers, apply for a bus pass – and buy tickets for shows at Hull City Hall and Hull New Theatre.

The three-storey building – which cost 6.7m including buying the freehold of the site – is part of a rationalisation programme which involves cutting the number of properties used by Hull Council and selling some of its buildings.

If the Lib Dem's budget proposals go through, more libraries and customer service centres are expected to be co-located in so-called "Library Plus" facilities, with some buildings being vacated.

The refurbishment cost the council – which is facing 50m in cuts – 2.35m, including 350,000 spent on modern carpets, desks and lighting systems.

However Coun Mike Ross said the council "couldn't afford not to do it."

Coun Ross said: "Because there are financial constraints it doesn't mean we can't provide the best for Hull.

"What we have here is a real example of how it is going to be happening (in the future). The idea is that 90 per cent of Hull's residents will be within a mile of Library Plus facilties.

"On the whole it will mean CSCs moving into libraries."

Asked about the number of empty buildings the move would create, he added: "We can't have lots of empty buildings left round the city centre.

"That said we wouldn't want the issue of buildings to hold up better customer services."

The Wilson Centre has entrances onto Alfred Gelder Street as well Queen Victoria Square and Queens Gardens. Around 70 council staff are already working on the first floor.

The centre offers disabled access along with facilities including a 'Changing Places' toilet, which is larger than a conventional disabled toilet.

With the opening of the Wilson Centre, other customer service centres, Newland, Preston Road, Calvert and Walker Street, will see their opening hours reduce until the Library Plus proposals are finalised. George Street closes for good this Friday.

The Wilson Centre will open from Monday to Friday, from 9am to 4.30pm, and Saturday from 9am to 12 noon.