Our Culture - Hear it from our workers

A Day in the life of...

Selby District Council Customer Liaison Officer

After several years as a sub-postmaster, Peter Oliver joined Selby District Council's benefits team as a Customer Liaison Officer just over 18 months ago.

Peter is part of a team of five, and enjoys dealing with customer enquiries about housing and council tax benefit. "The work is very varied and every day is different", explains Peter, "We have all had in depth training to ensure customers get the best advice. Everyone in the team is involved in giving advice over the phone, face-to-face and also visiting customers in their own homes. It's usually busy and never gets boring".

"We have team meetings every week and can have our say on how things can be improved or where we think something is not working quite right."

Peter and his colleagues are proud to be part of a benefits service that has been classed as 'excellent' within the national performance standards scheme. The service's performance is currently within the top 25% of all authorities in the country.

Although based mainly at the Civic Centre in Selby, Peter also occasionally works at 'advice surgeries' run from the Council's satellite offices in Sherburn, Elmet and Tadcaster, developed as part of the authority's commitment to improving customer's access to services.

Peter liaises closely with other services across the Council and team working is an important part of the job, "Some people have a misconception that we are some sort of 'benefits police', but everyone here is focussed on making sure people get all the help they are entitled to and ensuring customers are entirely satisfied with the service provided"

"I wasn't sure what to expect when I first started work here but I now feel part of a dedicated team that are making a difference to the people of Selby District."

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