Minister opens new service centre

Minister for local government, Brandon Lewis, cut the tape at the facility’s official opening, before taking a tour of the building and speaking to local councillors and dignitaries.

The building will now house all Adur and Worthing council’s customer services, including planning, housing, environmental health, revenue and benefits.

Worthing Borough Council leader Paul Yallop said: “This project was designed to save taxpayers more than £200,000 each year.

“Our partnership working with Adur District Council has allowed us to absorb massive cuts in government grant whilst maintaining the front-line services needed by our residents.”

He added: “Local government simply cannot survive as it is, unless it does things like this.”

The council plans to sell off the Adur Civic Centre to help fund the £3m project.

Adur and Worthing councils’ chief executive Peter Latham expects the majority of the building’s staff to be in the newly-refurbished centre by next month and does not foresee any job losses.

He said: “We are already a pretty lean organisation, but this makes us more efficient and saves money on buildings, services and resources.”

For the full story see the Worthing Herald, out Thursday, June 20.