WIREDGOV

The Head of the Civil Service, Sir Andrew Turnbull, will visit frontline staff in Newcastle on Friday 25 June 2004.

Sir Andrew is visiting Newcastle's Inland Revenue's Benton Park View and Balliol Park sites to see first hand the delivery of better public services on the frontline and to understand what these improvements mean to the customers.

He will visit Customer Service Representatives at the Inland Revenue Contact Centre, who are the first point of call for public inquiries from across the UK. He will also visit the National Insurance Contributions Office as well as DWP's Child Support Agency and Information Analysis Directorate.

The Inland Revenue has continued to make significant improvements in delivering services to customers. The Contact Centre at Balliol Park was introduced in March this year, it is one of seven sites throughout the country dealing with customer enquiries about claims for New Tax Credits and changes to customer's circumstances. It employs 650 staff and handles approximately 14,000 calls each day.

Sir Andrew Turnbull said:

"I am here in Newcastle to meet with frontline staff and share the vision for reforming the public sector and hear their views on progress so far."

"The reform will deliver a more effective Civil Service which is capable of transforming public services to better meet the needs of consumers. But this can only be achieved through working in close partnership with the frontline workers and the wider public sector as a whole."

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. Sir Andrew is currently visiting frontline staff as part of an ongoing outreach programme and is visiting various public sector organisations around the country. Other visits have been to Job Centre Plus, the Pensions Service, Companies House and the Immigration and Nationality Department at Heathrow.

2. During his visit to Newcastle, Sir Andrew will also meet with representatives from the Government Office North East.