A new and improved shared reception area in Mansfield’s Civic Centre is open and ready for business.

Mansfield District Council’s 18-month project has seen the DWP Jobcentre Plus and assessment centre join the council and the police, who are based in the shared community hub, together under one roof at the Chesterfield Road South site.

The Mayor, Kate Allsop, cut a ribbon to officially open the reception.

The improvements have enabled customers to access a range of council and JobCentre Plus services all at the same time in one place.

There’s a digital hub where customers can use computers to find information and complete online council and DWP forms, a main reception desk, and enquiry points for Benefits and Housing matters.

The council’s Customer Service Advisors will direct customers to the best place to deal with their enquiry in the most efficient way possible to reduce waiting times. Many council services are available online and staff can help customers get set up on the council’s new Customer Portal in the digital hub so they can receive personalised information about council services.

There are new waiting areas, a range of meeting rooms and a Parent and Baby Room with baby changing facilities.

The £2.4m project, which has been partly financed by the DWP, is the first substantial work to be carried out on the Civic Centre since it opened in 1986.

One of the main aims of the project was to free up ground floor office space, which can be rented out in future to bring much-needed additional income into the council. Rent from the DWP is already set to bring in about £328,000 a year. It has also created a more modern layout for customers and a better working environment for staff.

Mayor Allsop said: “The Civic Centre is now a bright and vibrant environment for both our customers and staff. It’s more befitting of a 21st Century Local Authority and puts us in a better position to generate additional income in the future from the commercial space we’ve created on the ground floor. We are pleased to welcome the Jobcentre and customers are already benefiting from the new and improved shared reception.”

Sharon Burrell, Jobcentre Customer Service Manager, said: “We are pleased that the move to the Civic Centre for customers and staff went so well. We are already seeing the benefits of providing customers with access to the full range of Jobcentre and local authority services under the same roof.

“The ‘one stop shop’, is an improved experience for customers in a modern and welcoming environment, while proving cost effective for tax payer.”

Also at the ribbon-cutting event were Chief Executive Hayley Barsby, Jobcentre Customer Service Manager Sharon Burrell, the leader of the Mansfield Independent Forum Cllr Martin Wright, leader of the Labour Party Cllr Sonya Ward, council officers who were on the project team led by Director of Economic Growth Mike Robinson, representatives from the contractors G F Tomlinson and Inspector Nick Butler from Nottinghamshire Police.