Customer Access Points - Yeovil

Overview

Somerset Council was created on April 1, 2023. The new unitary council brings together the services previously provided by the four district councils in Somerset (Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton, and South Somerset) alongside the services previously provided by Somerset County Council.

One of the important projects we need to undertake as Somerset Council is a review of our offices and other operational sites to better understand our accommodation needs as we move forward as a new authority.

This is called a property rationalisation programme and it is led by our Strategic Asset Management service.

A combination of post-Covid working styles - which means our teams are able to work more flexibly through digital innovation - and the number of operational buildings that now form our estate realistically means we have too much office space.

Reviewing where we could make changes will have a number of benefits such as delivering savings and reducing our overall energy costs as part of our climate change commitments.

It's a complex piece of work that will take time and, as such, it will be delivered in a phased way.

One of the first things we are looking at is in Yeovil and we would really value your feedback.

There are two Somerset Council owned buildings in Yeovil Town centre that both offer services to our customers.  We have been looking into the feasibility of co-locating these customer service delivery points so that customers only need to visit one building to access all services. 

The two buildings concerned are Petters House in Petters Way and Yeovil Library in King George Street. 

The Library has recently undergone an extensive refurbishment and decarbonisation programme therefore it is the most efficient building of the two and it is in the best condition. 

We have produced draft plans to indicate how the layout of the library building could work if we were to co-locate customer services in that building. Please note the reason for providing two plans for the first floor is to reflect flexible layout options for this floor. 

At this stage, we are only assessing whether it may be feasible to move forward with co-location and this is not about closing or reducing any services.  All the existing services being offered will continue to be provided.  If feasible, the building would deliver the following services:

• Library
• Registration Service (Births, Deaths, Marriages/Civil Ceremonies)
• Housing (including housing register and homelessness services)
• All services previously offered by the customer services team at Petters House (Council Tax, Housing Benefits, Planning advice etc)

In addition to Council services, the library also delivers a much wider community offer including for example the loan of blood pressure monitors, warm spaces, employment hub, iPad loan scheme and a variety of group activities.

The main changes to highlight relate to the ground floor area, nearest to the entrance, where you will see from the draft plans that we are proposing to create three interview rooms and customer service delivery space close to the entrance area.