Poor IT systems and lack of effective action to deal with the root causes of problems

Residents will be hoping that the new Council is more successful than the last in dealing with endemic problems. High on their priority list should be a revamp of the “report it” on line system. For most issues, reported using the system, no update reports are provided.

In other cases issues are reported back to residents as “solved” when a cursory examination reveals that the problem is still outstanding

One recent case was a (bad) littering problem on the Tithe Close snicket. Reported on 29th April the IT system said it was “solved”. In reality the mound of litter has simply grown in size then.

The same case highlights the lack of action on the root causes of problems. This, and other snickets in the area, are subject to littering on an almost daily basis. Surveillance followed by some well publicised prosecutions, would see the problem reduced (and failure costs avoided).

Another recurrent issue is fly tipping. The Council has rightly reduced the cost of bulky waste disposal collections. It has not been advertised very well.

So this Bank Holiday we are seeing numerous examples of dumping in public areas