COUNCIL chiefs have apologised for “inconvenience” as residents struggle to reach the local authority by phone.

Thousands of calls went unresolved last year and it remains a challenge to get through to council services.

Council bosses have pleaded for patience and insisted they are working to resolve the issue.

At West Dunbartonshire Council’s meeting on October 27, Councillor David McBride said: “The Labour group has been very concerned about the level of services provided on the phone and face-to-face. This council cut contact centre staff and hours prior to the pandemic.

“Church Street [council offices] have not reopened and there does not appear to be many staff in today. How many telephone staff have returned to a workplace environment?

“We are doing our community meetings face-to-face. I’m finding it very difficult standing up for the performance of this council.

“It’s becoming clear we will not have a member of the public in this building until 2022.”

Malcolm Bennie, chief officer for citizen, culture and facilities, said there were six people working in the office last Wednesday.

Chief executive Joyce White said: “I apologise to any resident for any inconvenience. People may have more flexible working arrangements now. We are absolutely aware it’s frustrating when people cannot get through on phone lines. We are trying to address this.

“Some of the queues are because of repeat phone calls. We are not back to normal service. We are still responding and recovering.”

But Cllr McBride replied: “I don’t think councillors are being treated seriously with the concerns we are raising. I don’t think six staff is very many. I’m very surprised we don’t have near 100 per cent of services back. I’m frustrated that I’m the first point of contact for many people in West Dunbartonshire. It’s extremely disappointing.”

Council leader Jonathan McColl said: “I share the frustration expressed by Cllr McBride.

“We were told for a long time the issue was limitations of people working from home. To now be told that’s not really the case is, at best, confusing.

“This is an issue that’s been raised time and time again. I think we really need an urgent written briefing. This needs resolving urgently.”

Mrs White said there was no doubt home working was one of many challenges.

“There’s no magic pixie dust to fix this,” she said. “It will take time to recover. Our average queuing is less than two minutes.

“We are interviewing for additional staff. We do need to get more hands to the pump.”

She said numbers were ranging from 600 to more than 1,000, and they were answering about 67-70 per cent.

Mr Bennie said, while the meeting was ongoing, that there was no current queue for calls.