A SERVICE which pro-vides wide-ranging in-form-ation to Trafford resi-dents has been prais-ed by inspectors.

An independent report by the Audit Commission says the Trafford Direct service is good and will probably improve.

The best value inspection team gave the council information service two stars because although there are some areas that require further attention, these are outweighed by a number of positive features.

It said staff are helpful and well trained and the service works well for users.

Liz Jones, acting regional director for northern region best value inspection service, says: "We have judged that the service will probably improve because Trafford Direct has a track record of positive development, and is now making significant progress on two aspects of customer service.

"Firstly it is opening more centres, covering more services and staying open for longer, and secondly, it is determined to deliver a better quality of service, for example in terms of speed of response."

The inspection report highlights a number of key strengths:

lThere is a strong commitment at senior level to customer-focused services, and staff are well trained, h

ighly motivated, and take a pride in delivering excellent customer service.

l Information given to customers is generally correct and consistent, and the service can deal with multiple queries in a single call.

l The service is open for longer than the standard council working week.

But inspectors also found weaknesses - including that not all the council's services are covered by Trafford Direct; about a third of telephone calls to the call centre are not answered, although this was being addressed at the time of the inspection; and further improvements are hampered by outdated IT systems.

To help the service improve, inspectors recommend that the number of council services covered by Trafford Direct are increased and closer links are developed with the voluntary sector and other groups.

Current levels of staff training should be built on. The service should also take on board a number of low cost improvements - such as more areas for confidential interviews, putting up notices in minority languages and providing self-service counters for various forms so customers do not have to queue for them.