Kris Westerby, Highways
Delivery Manager, gave a presentation on the new web based
reporting system, Fix My Street (FMS), which had been launched in
May 2023. (A copy of the presentation is enclosed with the
signed minutes.)
The presentation
outlined:
- The limits of
previous systems used by Local Services and other departments with
minimal integration of back-office systems and lack of feedback to
customers.
- The benefits of FMS
which included asset based reporting, use of photographic evidence,
accuracy of locations, integration with other systems, ability to
produce reports for users and respond to FOI / EIR
information.
- The implementation
timetable.
- The benefits for
users and staff with slides which demonstrated views of the web and
mobile apps and ability to monitor reports made.
- Data on reports
logged using FMS from May to September 2023 and comparison with
issues logged for the same period in 2022 (there had been an
increase of 143%).
- The ability to
monitor trends by ward or postcode and obtain a detailed breakdown
by category.
- The top 5 reporting
categories were:
i.
Roads – potholes
ii.
Flytipping
iii.
Hedges / Overgrown vegetation
iv.
Blocked gullies
v.
Grass cutting
- Next steps including
ongoing enhancements such as inclusion of grit heaps and bins,
developments to aid defence of insurance claims, improvements to
consistency and feedback to users, increased front end automation
of responses with reference to policies, use by more departments
such as housing etc.
- The demonstration
included a brief overview of the system as viewed by officers, how
the system interacted with Alloy (the system used by Highways
Maintenance) and how reports could be reassigned between users and
departments.
- Users were able see
whether the same issue had already been reported.
- Residents could
continue to report issues by telephoning the Contact Centre who
would enter the details on Fix My Street.
Following the presentation,
members raised the following questions/comments:
- Several reports of dead trees had not been
actioned. The Trees and Woodland Team were overstretched, and
the budget should be increased for the service.
- Fix My Street
should be promoted more to the public so they could take ownership
and report an issue.
- Data should
drive performance to drive investment
- It would be a
better way to inform residents, but staff training was required in
some areas.
- The reported
grit bin at North Ridge had never been replaced.
- Potholes next
to the old Swan Pub in Choppington need repairing for a second
time.
- The reporting system
worked well, but some jobs were not carried out
fully.
- Any action needed a
timescale.
- The team was thanked
for their quick response to a reported path
issue.
- Further investment
was required into the road infrastructure.
- Polices for different
areas was not a one size fits all
- Members generally
agreed that Fix My Street was a good way of reporting
issues.
- The way of reporting
issues required more information, eg
forwarding to a third party to resolve or the use of Power
BI.
Mr Westerby gave the following
responses:
- The reporting of the
trees would be referred back to Leon
Savage, Tree and Woodlands Team Leader for
response.
- If an issue was
closed, there would be a category for closure.
- The reporting of bins
left on the street was a grey area and the full waste system was
not yet on the App but discussion was
taking with the company who integrated the system for that to be
added.
- With reference to the
potholes, the Council had a responsibility to make the road network
safe. A patch repair took 7 hours to carry out whereas a full
repair required 7 days’ notice beforehand and then up to 28
days to repair.
- Any repairs that were
not carried out correctly, should be reported.
- Any actions that were
not completed on time would be triggered by contacting the Contact
Centre and investigated.
- The replacement of
road surface was being tackled differently, trying to find
alternative solutions for old roads.
- Mr Westerby stated
that the service already used PowerBI and member training would be required
to facilitate this. In addition, future issues could be
reported through Placecube which was
replacing the current Lagan system.
Mr Westerby was thanked for his
presentation.
RESOLVED
that the presentation be received.