Brent Council transforms digital offering for two key service areas with SocietyWorks
Brent Council is working with SocietyWorks to improve the online experience for residents when contacting the authority about two of its most in-demand services: residential waste and street and environment reporting.
Residents in Brent can now make use of two new digital portals, both powered by SocietyWorks’ citizen-centred technology: one for making waste-related requests, reports and payments online, using WasteWorks; the other for reporting street and environmental problems, using FixMyStreet Pro.
Branded to look exactly like the rest of Brent Council’s online environment and integrated directly with the Council’s existing asset, in-cab and payment systems, both WasteWorks and FixMyStreet Pro have enabled the council to facilitate a smooth transition for residents and staff, with no interruption to delivery. These integrations also permit information to be shared to and from residents, the Council and its contractors to help keep the feedback loop closed and improve resident satisfaction.
Brent Council’s dedicated instance of WasteWorks simplifies access to waste services online by providing one front door for all transactions, such as reporting a missed collection, ordering a new container or paying for a subscription to a green waste collection. Through integration, the portal can provide real-time updates about collections to residents to help Brent close the feedback loop, manage expectations and avoid unnecessary contact.
The portal was designed in collaboration with Bromley Council, and was shortlisted for the Public/Private Partnership award at the LGC Awards 2022. For Brent, we hope to replicate the success Bromley has seen with WasteWorks, with a 40% drop in unnecessary contact within the first few months of launching and a continual rise in subscriptions to waste services.
Meanwhile, through FixMyStreet Pro, residents can report local problems such as potholes, blocked drains and fly-tipping. The solution is designed as a progressive web app, giving residents the option to use it as an app or a website, with no obligation either way. It also has the unique ability to automatically triage reports on a nationwide scale, including to Transport for London, which reduces avoidable contact and eliminates manual intervention.
Angela Dixon, Managing Director at SocietyWorks said: “Consistency is key when it comes to improving the digital experience for residents, and with both WasteWorks and FixMyStreet Pro working in tandem for Brent, residents will benefit from using an efficient and intuitive interface across two different but equally in-demand service areas. It is a pleasure to collaborate with a council that takes such a forward-thinking and thorough approach to digital transformation.”
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If you would like to know more about FixMyStreet Pro or WasteWorks, request a free, informal demo here.
SocietyWorks provides Northumberland County Council with dedicated version of FixMyStreet Pro
Northumberland County Council is the latest local authority to have chosen SocietyWorks’ FixMyStreet Pro as its new reporting solution for street, highway and environmental issues.
Potholes, fly-tipping, broken street lights and other local place-based issues in Northumberland can now be reported to Northumberland County Council using a brand new installation of FixMyStreet Pro.
Provided by SocietyWorks, the wholly owned subsidiary of civic technology charity mySociety, FixMyStreet Pro is a long-running, map-based solution developed in collaboration with councils, which integrates with existing backend systems to create a seamless reporting experience and close the feedback loop between residents, the council and its contractors.
For Northumberland, the solution is integrated with the Causeway Alloy asset management system, ensuring reports go to the correct team and enabling updates to be sent back to report-makers. With all reports displayed on the map and the capability to automatically divert reports to other authorities, including to National Highways, FixMyStreet Pro will help Northumberland to increase transparency and reduce unnecessary contact.
Glen Sanderson, Leader of Northumberland County Council said: “We’re so pleased to be launching this system which should revolutionise the way we deal with issues on our roads and footpaths.
“This new online tool is the most direct way to report anything to us that needs fixing, cleaning or clearing across the county.
“In a short few clicks, people can easily alert the council to an issue and receive an update once it’s been resolved.”
Angela Dixon, Managing Director at SocietyWorks said: “Since launching in 2012, FixMyStreet Pro’s development has been guided by the councils using the solution and their residents’ needs.
“As a not-for-profit organisation passionate about helping local authorities to innovate using integrated, citizen-centred technology, it is great to see another council choose FixMyStreet Pro and join our collaborative network.
“We have really enjoyed working with Northumberland and we look forward to seeing the council use the solution and get involved in its future.”
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Want to know more about FixMyStreet Pro? Request a demo to see how the solution could work for you.
SocietyWorks joins LCRIG as Associate Member
We are delighted to announce that we are now an Associate Member of the Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG).
LCRIG brings together central and local government, supply chain and the wider highways community to ensure ongoing improvements in the highways sector.
Angela Dixon, Managing Director at SocietyWorks said: “Joining LCRIG is an exciting milestone for SocietyWorks, having been working in partnership with councils to support accessible and effective digital citizen engagement in maintaining the UK’s road and highway network since 2007, when our parent charity launched FixMyStreet, its national, map-based reporting service for local street-based issues.
“Fast-forward a few years to the launch of FixMyStreet Pro, a fully integrated version of the national service, designed in collaboration with a handful of forward-thinking councils who saw the vast potential in having a truly synchronised reporting service that is capable of integrating with numerous business systems, automatically triaging reports to the correct authority on behalf of citizens, and closing the feedback loop between report-makers, councils and their external contractors.
“Now, we are proud to be a well-established and trusted provider of several citizen-centred digital solutions to over 35 different councils, highways agencies and other public bodies. Our FixMyStreet Pro solution continues to build on 15 years of experience creating a reporting process for a broad range of localised road and highway issues that’s as smooth and satisfactory as possible for the report-maker, and for council staff.
“We take enormous pride in our collaborative approach to working with councils; it is your needs, along with those of your residents that sit at the heart of what we do. We see that approach mirrored in LCRIG, so it made perfect sense for us to align ourselves with the community and see how we can help each other to further innovate and facilitate effective, manageable and scalable digital transitions.”
For more information about LCRIG, please visit the website. Or if you would like to know more about how we help councils and highways agencies provide more citizen-friendly technology, please get in touch.
Brent Council chooses FixMyStreet Pro as its new reporting solution for street and environmental problems
SocietyWorks is working with Brent Council to transform the way residents report local street-based problems and access residential waste services online, starting with the installation of a dedicated version of FixMyStreet Pro.
Brent Council is the latest local authority to switch to FixMyStreet Pro for managing inbound street and environmental fault reports from residents. Like the twenty four other other local and public authorities across the UK using the software, Brent will benefit from FixMyStreet Pro’s unique ability to automatically triage reports on a nationwide scale, including to Transport for London, which reduces avoidable contact and eliminates manual intervention.
The map-based solution has a simple interface designed to make it easier for residents to report problems on any device, while also displaying all reports on the map to enable residents to subscribe to existing reports instead of creating duplicates.
Integrated directly with two of Brent’s backend management systems Symology and the Selected Interventions Echo system, which is used by the council’s waste contractor Veolia, FixMyStreet Pro will help to improve accuracy and close the feedback loop by facilitating a two-way exchange of data from council to report-maker.
The introduction of FixMyStreet Pro in Brent will be followed by the rollout of a dedicated version of SocietyWorks’ residential waste portal WasteWorks to also improve the user experience when accessing information and making requests about waste services.
Councillor Krupa Sheth, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Environment and Climate Action at Brent Council said: “We take serious pride in our streets and green spaces. In order to make sure our spaces are functioning – we need your help. I encourage all residents to let us know when they encounter fly-tipping, potholes, graffiti and other issues by using report.brent.gov.uk.”
“Thank you to all the residents who do keep us up to date with issues in the borough, it really does help us to keep Brent clean and green.”
Angela Dixon, Managing Director at SocietyWorks said: “It has been a delight to support Brent with this ambitious project to improve the digital experience for residents in two different service areas. At every stage it has been clear that resident needs are being prioritised, and we look forward to seeing our technology make a positive impact in the borough.”
FixMyStreet Pro for Brent Council is now live for residents to use: https://report.brent.gov.uk/
Southwark Council switches to FixMyStreet Pro for managing street fault reports from residents
Southwark Council is the latest in a fast-growing number of councils to adopt SocietyWorks’ map-based reporting solution FixMyStreet Pro for taking reports of street cleaning issues from residents.
Residents in the London borough of Southwark can now report street and environmental faults, such as fly-tipping, graffiti and overgrown grass, using a brand new installation of FixMyStreet Pro, built specifically for Southwark Council.
Provided by SocietyWorks, the wholly owned subsidiary of long-running civic technology charity mySociety, FixMyStreet Pro offers a simple, accessible and intuitive reporting experience and will feed reports directly into Southwark’s asset management system Confirm via integration.
Crucially, FixMyStreet Pro will help Southwark to close the feedback loop for residents without adding extra workload for staff by automatically pulling updates back out of Confirm for report-makers.
The new system displays all reports publicly on the map and is also capable of automatically diverting reports meant for other authorities, including for Transport for London, which will enable Southwark to increase transparency and improve the reporting user experience for both its residents and its staff.
Cllr Catherine Rose, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Parks, Streets & Clean Air, said: “Our new online tool is the most direct way to report anything to us that needs fixing, cleaning or clearing on Southwark’s estates and streets. In a short few clicks, you can easily alert the council to an issue and receive an update once it’s been resolved.
“We chose FixMyStreet Pro because it was the most user friendly street cleaning platform on the market. It takes away the stress of knowing who to contact at the council about issues we know our residents really care about, like fly tipping. We look forward to working with residents through FixMyStreet Pro to keep our streets cleaner, greener and healthier.”
Angela Dixon, Managing Director at SocietyWorks said: “We are delighted to have yet another London borough benefit from FixMyStreet Pro’s ability to simplify the reporting process and connect councils together for the satisfaction of citizens.
“It has been a genuine pleasure to work with the team at Southwark, who have kept their residents’ needs at the front and centre of their rollout of FixMyStreet Pro. We look forward to seeing residents and staff make use of the new system.”
FixMyStreet Pro for Southwark Council can be found here: https://report.southwark.gov.uk/
Camden Council becomes latest local authority to switch to FixMyStreet Pro
Camden Council joins over twenty other councils and public sector bodies in using FixMyStreet Pro as its citizen-facing online fault reporting tool for street and environmental issues.
A new, dedicated version of FixMyStreet Pro has launched for the London Borough of Camden, through which residents can report issues such as potholes, fly-tipping and broken street lights.
Developed by SocietyWorks, the wholly owned subsidiary of civic technology charity mySociety, FixMyStreet Pro is a user-friendly, map-based online reporting solution, designed to make it easy for residents to accurately report problems on any device.
FixMyStreet Pro will help to reduce report duplication by displaying all reports on the map and close the feedback loop by integrating with Camden’s backend system Symology to facilitate a two-way flow of data from council to report-maker.
Camden will also benefit from FixMyStreet Pro’s unique ability to automatically divert irrelevant reports to the correct council or authority, including to Transport for London, reducing unnecessary contact and improving processes.
Councillor Adam Harrison, Cabinet member for a sustainable Camden said: “Having the most up to date information about where there are any problems on roads and pavements across Camden can help us to respond to these quicker.
“Reports provided via the new FixMyStreet app and website are vital to this. Issues such as potholes, broken street lighting, damaged road signs, and blocked or flooded drains can now be reported quickly on the go and allow users to provide the exact location and upload a photo.
“This information is then sent directly to our engineers so they can investigate and seek to fix the problem in a more efficient and effective manner. The individual who reported the issue is then updated once the issue reported has been resolved.”
Angela Dixon, Managing Director at SocietyWorks said: “Camden is the tenth London borough council to have chosen FixMyStreet Pro as its fault reporting solution, along with Transport for London.
“This is a really significant step forward, not just for Camden, but for the capital as a whole, with FixMyStreet Pro creating a transparent and unified fault reporting process, capable of cross-borough report triaging, which makes it as easy as possible for London residents to report problems wherever they are.”
FixMyStreet Pro for Camden Council is now live for residents to use: https://fixmystreet.camden.gov.uk/
SocietyWorks provides the London Borough of Sutton with new online waste service
The London Borough of Sutton has become the latest council to adopt SocietyWorks’ digital residential waste management portal, WasteWorks, to more efficiently and transparently manage resident access to waste services online.
SocietyWorks is providing a dedicated version of its integrated online waste management portal, WasteWorks, to the London Borough of Sutton. Through the portal, residents can access the council’s domestic waste services, including checking their collection days and requesting new bins, as well as subscribing to and paying for green waste subscriptions, all from within the same self-service workflow.
WasteWorks was launched in 2021 in collaboration with Bromley Council and Veolia, and was shortlisted for a LGC Award 2022. For Sutton, the portal is integrated with Veolia Echo and Barclaycard to provide a more convenient, seamless and transparent online experience for residents, while streamlining processes for staff and contractors to help reduce avoidable contacts and better manage expectations.
The introduction of WasteWorks is a joint venture between the London Borough of Sutton and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, whose own dedicated version of the portal launched a few months ago for handling green waste. This comes as part of the ongoing improvements being established by the South London Waste Partnership (SLWP), of which both councils are members.
Angela Dixon, Managing Director at SocietyWorks said: “It is always an honour to be trusted by a council to introduce a new service and bring about sought-after improvements for citizens. We’re proud to have the backing of the SLWP in introducing WasteWorks for the boroughs of Sutton and Kingston upon Thames. Together, we can deliver a unified digital experience for residents, connecting multiple suppliers together while simplifying online access to waste services for residents.”
Paul Brockwell, Interim Head of Waste and Street Cleaning at London Borough of Sutton said: “The London Borough of Sutton recently opted for WasteWorks to provide digital waste solutions for our Waste collection service, having witnessed the great work already achieved at The London Borough of Bromley. The system has enabled Sutton Council to provide a seamless and much improved online experience for Sutton residents. SocietyWorks has been extremely sensitive to our needs as an organisation and worked tirelessly to provide the authority with solutions in a very short timeframe that benefit the borough as a whole.”
Take a look at WasteWorks for the London Borough of Sutton.
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SocietyWorks provides the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames with a new online waste portal
The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames has chosen SocietyWorks’ self-service waste portal WasteWorks, for managing resident access to waste online more efficiently and transparently, starting with garden waste and looking ahead to incorporate wider domestic waste services.
Residents of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames will now be able to access the council’s garden waste services via a dedicated version of SocietyWorks’ new online waste portal WasteWorks, which was launched in 2021 in collaboration with Bromley Council and Veolia. Using the portal, residents will be able to view their garden waste subscriptions, order new containers and use one-off card payments for non recurring subscriptions, all within the same workflow. There will soon be a Direct Debit function for residents to use for recurring subscriptions, too. While initially focused on improving the resident experience for garden waste, plans are in place to roll WasteWorks out to manage the council’s wider domestic waste service transactions.
Optimised to work on whatever device residents want to use, WasteWorks will enable the Council to provide a more convenient and seamless online experience for residents thanks to integration with the council’s in-cab system provided by Veolia Echo and payment provider Capita. WasteWorks will also help to deliver a more transparent waste service by enabling a two-way flow of information to keep residents informed on the status of their waste subscriptions, payments, reports and requests. Customer services will be able to use the same user-centred workflow to manage waste subscriptions on behalf of residents over the phone.
The introduction of WasteWorks, which was recently shortlisted for a LGC Award 2022 in conjunction with Bromley Council, is a joint venture between the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Sutton, whose own dedicated version of the portal is currently in development. This comes as part of the ongoing improvements being established by the South London Waste Partnership, of which both Kingston and Sutton are members. The two councils approached SocietyWorks to help further digitise their existing online domestic waste system and move towards a consistent approach to online waste services across the boroughs, which will also benefit their shared waste provider Veolia by improving communication between its in-cab system, the councils and residents.
Angela Dixon, Managing Director at SocietyWorks said: “We’re delighted to be helping the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames bring its online waste system in line with resident expectations. It’s always a pleasure to work with councils that not only put resident needs first, but also work very collaboratively with neighbouring councils and their other external partners to deliver more wide-reaching improvements. We look forward to helping more councils across the UK do the same.”
Councillor John Sweeney, Portfolio Holder for Business, Recycling and Customer Contact added: “We are excited to be one of the first boroughs to use this innovative system. This new online portal will allow residents to more easily keep track of their subscription payments. It is great to know that this system has been developed with another London council and we look forward to rolling it out across the borough.”
Scott Edgell, General Manager, Veolia SLWP said: “Our teams work hard to serve over 70,000 Kingston households with recycling and waste collections, including 14,000 signed up to the garden waste collection service. We’re so pleased to be supporting Kingston Council with the implementation of their new waste portal with the help of SocietyWorks, so that the high quality service we strive to deliver to residents is reflected in a better experience online, and look forward to the platform’s development in Sutton.”
Take a look at The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames’ new green waste system or contact us to discuss how WasteWorks could work for your authority.
Peabody makes it easier for Thamesmead residents to report environmental issues with FixMyStreet Pro
Peabody Housing Association joins Transport for London and seven borough councils in using FixMyStreet Pro to provide an easy way for people to report local problems and improve satisfaction.
Residents living in Thamesmead, London will now be able to report local environmental issues such as fly-tipping, pest control, public lighting and problems in or around the canals and lakes to Peabody using a new dedicated online system powered by SocietyWorks’ FixMyStreet Pro.
FixMyStreet Pro’s technology allows residents to pinpoint a problem’s location and report it within a matter of minutes via their mobile phones. The reports, which will be sent directly to Peabody’s dedicated environmental services team in Thamesmead, aim to enable the housing association to deliver a more efficient and effective service to local residents, working in tandem with the neighbouring boroughs of Bexley and Greenwich, both of which also use FixMyStreet Pro to manage reports from residents.
Peabody, one of London’s largest and oldest housing associations, owns around 65% of the land in Thamesmead and is leading on the 30-year regeneration of the neighbourhood. This will create around 20,000 new homes; thousands of new jobs; a wealth of leisure, cultural and commercial facilities; improved green spaces and waterways; and better connections with London and the South East. Alongside its long-term plans for Thamesmead, Peabody is delivering ongoing improvements across the neighbourhood to enhance the day-to-day experiences of residents. FixMyStreet Pro is yet another step forward in achieving this.
John Lewis, Executive Director of Peabody, said: “Getting the basics right for residents is a key priority for us all at Peabody. This means providing an effective repairs and maintenance service, investing more in our existing homes, and providing simple and easy access to our services through technology that’s quick and easy to use. It also means delivering services that best meet the needs of local communities.
“FixMyStreet Pro is an excellent example of how we can offer a modern and responsive environmental maintenance service to Thamesmead residents. It’s great to be launching it here, and I look forward to hearing resident feedback about it over the months ahead.”
Angela Dixon, Managing Director at SocietyWorks said: “This is a huge step forward for the residents of Thamesmead, who can now benefit from a truly joined-up reporting system for local problems. With Peabody and its two closest borough councils, Bexley and Greenwich, all using FixMyStreet Pro, the three bodies can work in synchronisation, making it easier than ever for residents to successfully report problems and care for their local community. We hope to help other areas of the UK achieve the same kind of progress.”
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If you’d like to explore how FixMyStreet Pro could work for you, find out more here.
Peterborough City Council adopts WasteWorks to improve resident access to waste services
Peterborough City Council has broadened its partnership with SocietyWorks to handle domestic waste online through its new WasteWorks service.
Peterborough City Council has adopted WasteWorks, a new waste service from citizen-focused local authority services provider SocietyWorks, to improve the way residents access waste online. The new service will empower residents to easily self-serve reports and requests from any device, while helping the council to streamline processes, deliver faster resolutions and reduce demand on customer contact centres thanks to an automatic two-way flow of data from front to backend system.
Integrated directly into Peterborough’s in-cab system Bartec and branded to complement the council’s website, WasteWorks will allow residents to manage all of their waste requirements from one place, whether it’s to report a missed bin collection or to pay for a bulky waste collection – which is currently being worked on and set to be delivered later this year. Behind the scenes, the service will seamlessly feed information between citizen, administrator and inspector, helping the council to better manage expectations and close the feedback loop through automated notifications and intelligent tools for on-the-ground inspectors.
This is the second SocietyWorks service to have been adopted by Peterborough City Council, which has been successfully using FixMyStreet Pro to take reports from residents about street and highways problems since 2019. The council will be able to access both WasteWorks and FixMyStreet Pro reports from a central dashboard, which includes a live heatmap to track category, seasonal and area-based trends.
Councillor Nigel Simons, cabinet member for Waste, Street Scene and the Environment, said: “We are fully committed to improving waste services across Peterborough and as part of this commitment, we want to enhance the way residents access services online. The new WasteWorks service will make a positive difference and I would encourage residents to log on and see for themselves.”
Councillor Marco Cereste, cabinet member for Digital Services and Transformation, added: “We want to engage better with residents online and enhance the overall user experience. This is a big step forwards and just the start of improvements to our online services.”
Mark Cridge, Chief Executive at SocietyWorks said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Peterborough City Council again. By integrating both FixMyStreet Pro and WasteWorks into its line of business systems, the council and its residents will benefit from a truly joined-up reporting service that puts user-friendliness at its heart.
“Peterborough is a really forward-thinking council, and it’s been a real pleasure to collaborate with the team on this project and build a service that works around the real-life needs of residents and staff.”
Residents in Peterborough can access the new waste service right now.
WasteWorks is available to all UK councils. Request a demo to find out more.