A Lancaster City Council councillor has criticized a perceived ‘operational failure’ within the local authority’s issue reporting app.
Cllr Matthew Black raised the matter at a council meeting last week, during which he explained issues following a report submitted to remove ‘highly offensive’ graffiti displayed on a local cycle track bridge.
He told the meeting how the Love Clean Streets app had closed his first case and despite filing a second report, the issue was neglected for weeks.
‘I struggle to accept that this is down to “teething problems” or “glitches” in the system. Our residents need the assurance that when they take the time to report issues, the council responds swiftly and effectively’, said Cllr Black.
According to Cllr Paul Hart, there has been a 41% rise in public issue reporting since the introduction of the app, with the local authority taking roughly 3.31 days to correct problems raised by members of the community.
However, Cllr Hart conceded that the graffiti case ‘should not have been closed initially’ and explained that the delay in removing the lettering was due to ‘operational issues related to the fleet and personnel’.
Following the incident, which has now been resolved, an ‘offensive graffiti’ category has been introduced on the app to support the management of ‘urgent requests’.
