An Update From Councillor Jim Campbell Just like many businesses, the Coronavirus pandemic has forced the Council to work in new ways. Council officers haven’t returned to the “office”, and won’t for many more months. Given the rising concern about the increase in transmission of the the Coronavirus, this is probably wise. Council and Committee meetings have resumed, but virtually, courtesy of Microsoft Teams. Residents can still watch these meetings on the Council website, www.edinburgh.gov.uk Just like being in the public gallery, you can see and hear exactly what Councillors are doing as your representatives.
the bottom of the page. Once users have selected what they want, they should find a brief explanation and an oval shaped button that launches a form to be completed and submitted. The forms are designed to capture all the information needed to resolve the issue. A map interface is used to capture precise locations unambiguously, for example, and photographs can be upload, perhaps saving a thousand words. Email updates on progress can be requested too. Thankfully, registering with a mygovscot account is now optional, which makes things a lot easier.
Face to face communication is rare, save Officers whose role requires them to be out and about, and of course suitably distanced from others. Phone communication is a bit hit and miss (given all the home working). Email and video conferencing is the new norm. It’s remarkable that these huge changes in the way the Council operates took place over little more than a week last March!
On the main page, below the “Click to pay”, “Click to report” and “Click to request” buttons, there are more buttons and hyperlinks to various Council services displayed in a more traditional way, and including a lot of information about what the Council does.
Fortuitously, a programme to update the Council’s website was already in progress. The website is now by far the easiest way for residents to report any problems. It has been re-designed so that it would work well both on traditional computers, and on smaller mobile devices like smartphones. All the content has been rearranged around the idea of what residents were trying to do, rather than the departments of the Council. Now, when a resident reports something, this goes instantly to the relevant service for action, removing the previous need for human relay. On reaching the Council website, users will find a number of prominent “Click to...” buttons which let them pay, report or request things of the Council. On following these solid buttons, users are next presented with the most popular choices in further buttons, with less popular options listed as hyperlinks below. The lists cover the vast majority of issues residents raise, so it is worth looking down through them to 24
With some confidence, I can now say that reporting an issue like a bin problem, a street light issue or a blocked gully is best done on our website because not only is it the fastest way to getting it sorted, its also the most efficient way too. Reports can be made from home, or using a smartphone whenever you come across anything that needs attention. For residents who don’t have access to our website, or in an emergency, please still phone 0131 200 2000. I’ve written before about the financial challenges facing the Council. One of the consequences of this, is the Council has had to rely less on routine inspection of our assets round the City. We really do need to harness residents’ knowledge of what they are observing in their local areas. We must value the reports that residents make as free intelligence, and act on them quickly. Our website is a key resource in achieving this. Please let me know what you think of the new website, or anything else. As ever, I can be contacted at the City Chambers on 0131 529 4235, or better still, by email at : jim.campbell@edinburgh.gov.uk.
