Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

First Contact

First Contact is the access point for Stockton Borough Council's Children, Education and Social Care services. We are here to help people to access the service they need.

The First Contact Team is responsible for gathering the relevant information from people who feel they have a need for a service and meet the eligibility criteria. We can take the information from relatives, friends, or professionals, providing permission has been obtained from the person concerned. In the case of a child parental permission is required.

We deal with requests for services for children and families, people with visual impairment, people with a physical disability, people with a learning disability and for elderly people.

We can also advise people if there is a more suitable agency (and contact details) to deal with a query.

Our telephone lines are open from 8.30am until 5.00pm Monday to Thursday and on Friday from 8.30am to 4.30pm.

Once we have closed for the day, or over the weekend and Bank Holidays, our out-of-hours Emergency Social Work service takes over.