CHANGES TO SANDWELL COUNCIL PHONE NUMBERS
Phone numbers for some Sandwell Council services will change on Monday 12 December.
The new numbers are:
• 0121 368 1155 – Council tax, benefits and sundry debts
• 0121 368 1166 – Housing – rent, bidding for properties, anti-social behaviour and getting on the housing register
• 0121 368 1177 – Bins, recycling, highways and fly-tipping
• 0121 368 1188 – Births, marriages, deaths and the Register Office
• 0121 368 1199 – General enquiries All other phone numbers, including the 0121 569 6000 number which will now be for housing repairs only, remain the same.
The move is aimed at cutting call waiting times and guiding people who use the internet to log issues quickly and easily online. Callers will be given more options to choose from on the new numbers, putting them through to the right people.
The new numbers will also offer callers the chance to receive a text link direct to their mobile phone to show them how to request a service or log a problem quickly and easily online.
Staff will be freed up to deal with complex issues and help residents who don’t have internet access. Anyone who has access to the internet is encouraged to sign up for a MySandwell account – where you can check your bin day, report a missed bin, log a pothole or broken streetlight and access many other council services – go to www.sandwell.gov.uk/mysandwell You can see a list of services available online by going to www.sandwell.gov.uk/reportit Sandwell Council Leader Councillor Steve Eling said: “The changes to council phone numbers will help put callers through to the right people, or where possible, help them log issues quickly and simply on our website.
“We know a lot of residents would rather report something or request a service through our website instead of calling us, so this is a good way of us showing more people how they can do that.
“For people who don’t have access to the internet or with complex issues who need to speak to someone, our staff will be able to help them.” Cabinet member for core council services Councillor Steve Trow said: “This is about providing an improved service for people calling us.
"The system gives residents the option to receive a text providing a link to reporting a problem online and if they prefer not to, will put them through to the right team. “All of the numbers are local ones, so they won’t incur costs to residents in the way 0845 numbers have in the past.”
All council phone lines will be available from 8am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday.
The emergency repairs number for council tenants - 0800 844 112 - is available outside office hours.