Since 4 December 2017, La Poste in Châteauneuf-sur-Cher has hosted one of these public service centres – the fourth to be set up with La Poste in the department and the 14th in Cher overall.
The success of this initiative is down to the close collaboration with the government, represented by Catherine Ferrier, Prefect of Cher, Patrick Vautier, Deputy Prefect of Vierzon in charge of the accessibility plan for public services in Cher, and the Town Mayor, William Pelletier.
The inauguration of this new pooled service offering took place on 21 February 2018 in the presence of elected officials, partners and representatives of both La Poste and the French government.
Delighted to welcome an additional service to his town, the Mayor emphasised the “importance of the feeling of support by offering new local services that are essential to maintaining the population in our region.”
This offering of connected services provides free access to the sites of public bodies partnered with the Châteauneuf-sur-Cher public service centre: Caf, CPAM, Carsat, Pôle Emploi and MSA. Those who use them can independently manage their needs via digital tools provided by La Poste (PC, printer, scanner, etc.) or receive help from the customer service representatives. In fact, these customer service representatives are certified, trained and authorised to carry out public service missions. Thanks to this partnership with the government, it is also possible to complete all the electronic procedures that, until now, have been carried out at prefectures (vehicle registration documents, ID cards, passports, etc.).
The Prefect reminded everyone of the importance of offering tailored services in a society that is constantly changing. “The public service centre is one way to respond to needs, namely by reintroducing human contact into digital services.”
The Prefect also expressed her wish that “the Châteauneuf-sur-Cher public service centre, which already has a portfolio of important operators in everyday life, may host other operators, such as the Departmental Directorate of Public Finance for tax returns or the Departmental Agency for Information on Housing.”
Unanimously, they all encouraged citizens to visit the Châteauneuf public service centre as much as they like, illustrating the sustainability of the expanded services that it offers today.
Sylvie Rochelle, Manager of the Bourges pension agency (Carsat): “This is an opportunity to expand our service offering by getting closer to users and calling on partners like the public service centres. We have a number of branches across the department, but we do not cover every need. What’s more, as a partner of public service centres, we can limit the distance that members of the public have to travel.” Fabienne Picardat, Manager of the Pôle Emploi (job centre) office in Baudens, Bourges: “It’s important that our services be delivered via a local structure. That way, services can be brought as close to the people as possible, along with top-quality information on digital services. Facilitating access to Pôle Emploi’s services means facilitating the relationship between our users and our institution.”
Promoting public service centres
In light of a low visitor rate at public service centres set up with La Poste, the members of the Loiret Departmental Committee on Local Postal Coverage approved, as a first step, the principle of a test of the ‘delivery with a message’ service at the Artenay public service centre. At the beginning of the year, postmen and women therefore carried out this service offered by the corporate sales department at La Poste in Centre-Val de Loire. The goal was to spread the word about the public service centre among the citizens of Artenay and the residents of neighbouring towns. This initiative was funded by the national postal territorial compensation fund.