Islington Council has scooped an award for pioneering the latest technology to report road maintenance problems. <br><br>The authority now responds to requests from the public in under three hours - compared to the previous time of up to three days. <br><br>New equipment means that details of a problem are beamed directly to a vehicle or depot in the nearest area. <br><br>Thanks to this new efficient system, the council's maintenance team is now dealing with 7,500 requests each year - nearly four times the previous figure. <br><br>Cllr Greg Foxsmith, Islington Council's Executive Member for Environment, said: "If someone reports a problem with a road surface of pavement, or a street light isn't working, they quite rightly want us to sort it out as soon as possible.<br><br>"Before this system was set up, it was harder to co-ordinate these requests and get all our maintenance teams in the right place at the right time. <br><br>"This new computer system has changed all that - and we hope the public is seeing the improvement." <br><br>Islington Council won the "Transforming Public Services - Achievement of the Year" category at the 2008 Municipal Journal Achievement awards - entered by scores of local authorities across the country. <br><br>The council has been contacted by 60 other authorities who want to adopt the system, which is the first of its kind in the country. <br><br>ENDS <br><br>For more information please call Chris Weeks on 020 7527 3032
Page Last Updated: 17 December 2009