The Ministry of Social Development office at 73 Durham Street in Tauranga will close temporarily while building improvements are underway.

"We're upgrading our Tauranga service centre to help it work better for clients and staff," says Bay of Plenty Social development regional commissioner Mike Bryant.

"We'll have a more welcoming office, clients will have more privacy when they talk with a case manager and there will be added security for clients, visitors, and our people."

Mike says these changes have been tested in some service centres and they've had good feedback.

"Our recent Greerton refit was very well received."

The Tauranga office will close at 12pm on Friday, July 21, and it will take about three weeks to complete the work.

Although the service centre will be temporarily closed, staff will be working from other locations and will be able to help online or by phone, says Mike.

Anyone who needs help can still get in touch with us by logging into MyMSD or calling 0800 559 009 (general enquiries), 0800 552 002 (Senior Services) or 0800 889 900 (StudyLink).

The office is scheduled to re-open on Tuesday, August 15, at 9.30am