A TELEPHONE advice service run by Sandwell Council has boosted its waiting and call times after criticism from a Blackheath councillor.

The ASSIST call centre now boasts a reduction in its call answering times from an average of seven minutes to one minute 20 seconds.

It has also chopped the longest call time from 45 minutes to just 10 minutes.

Councillor Mary Docker first complained last July that residents ringing the 0845 number for inquiries about adult social care and other services after users were giving up trying to get through because the delay in answering was so long.

“Assessments were also being done over the phone, which can take a long time, and callers were not being offered a ring back service,” she said, adding: “I did eventually get a written response in December 2011 acknowledging that people were experiencing problems and that there would be a review and that it was expected to see noticeable improvements by the new year.”

She said she was “delighted” to hear about the improvements that had been made.