Problems and politicians

[Tim Lund]

Rather than go on about whether I think Liam Curran is helping with his comments about gizmos from New Zealand, I thought it would be better to look at where we do get good public service, and why. Obviously there are many variables, but one common change in recent years has been the opportunities presented by information technology. This is crucial to the triumph which is Love Lewisham, where among other channels, the public, with their access to mobile phones, is involved in getting information about where there are problems to the staff who can do something about it. People are involved, but they seem well managed, which is what happens when there is clarity within an organisation, with people knowing what is expected of them.

An example, where 'big data' comes into play, is fixing potholes - another regular poster on this Forum, I'm not sure if on-line or face to face, has told me of a large central database with the incredibly detailed records this involved, which exists I think at a London level, maybe wider still. With it - I'd hope - problems can be accurately logged, specific issues remembered, and priorities can be identifies. I don't suppose it's problem free, but it certainly ought to be possible to get it to deliver the better public services we all want.

A third example, where information doesn't seem to flow as efficiently as it could, it the problem I've posted on with the water leak on Silverdale (some more phone calls on this this afternoon, not yet posted on). Apart from not wanting dangerous pavements should we get a frost soon, I'm also interested in this from this management point of view.

Up to here, I've not said anything about politicians - and this is significant, because I'm not sure that they actually help. In the first two cases, they are completely out of the picture, and the citizen is none the worse for it. In connection with the Silverdale water leak, I did eventually email three councillors, and one forwarded by email to someone at Lewisham Homes who had heard nothing about it. I then put her in touch with someone at Lewisham Environmental Health, who did, but his databases were down, which put a stop to immediate progress. But it's fairly baffling that Thames Water have been sending down teams to look at this recurrent problem, consistently identifying it as a 'customer side leak' and the customer in question, a Lewisham Council ALMO, doesn't seem to have the systems which record the fact. My emailing councillors was a bit of a last resort, and it's possible that it will create some pressure towards developing better systems - not least because the councillor responding does have some systems expertise himself.

In connection with TfL and the traffic light signalling on Sydenham Road, while I accept that TfL could have been as inefficient as Liam suggests, this just does not seem very likely. I (and HB) may have some differences with their priorities on cycling, but I suspect they do know what they are doing when it comes to technical matters. Similarly with Thames Water - I don't much like how they are financed, so not paying enough tax, but I suspect their engineers know what they are doing.

These are just some of the local services we need, and there will be others where 'big data' and information technology won't make that much of a difference, but even so, clear responsibilities and good management should still make any service run smoothly.

Against this background, I just don't think there is so much for local politicians to do - we need some, but not so many, and those who really are surplus to requirements are almost bound to be looking for opportunities for grandstanding, and I think very often make matters worse, if they get hold of the wrong end of the stick, and oblige the people who really know what the problem is to respond to them.

Sorry that was a bit wordy - getting late, and I'm a bit tired.

[JRobinson]

Fix My Street - you fill in the details of the issue, they send it to the appropriate authority on your behalf, and the authority then has to fix the issue, and update FMS with updates as to when the issue is resolved.
Report a pothole - Government based report for England and Wales - report a pothole or road fault, and they tell the local authority.
Fill That Hole - similar service provided by CTC the national cycling charity
a google search for 'report it' brings up that most london councils have online pages for reporting all sorts of issues, not just highway related.
and
London Works - London's register of road works.

[hairybuddha]

http://www.met.police.uk/roadsafelondon/

Useful intelligence gathering tool for reporting anti-social behaviour on the roads.

[leenewham]

What is the gizmo from New Zealand?

[Chris Best]

Lee I am going to go through the situation at the Sydenham Assembly tomorrow.

TfL were waiting for the installation of a BT line to enable the sites along Sydenham Road to be taken onto an Urban Traffic Control software system and thereby linked. The equipment from New Zealand is to allow the signals to be linked so they do not operate in isolation and once complete the signals will be fully integrated.

LB Lewisham have been chasing TfL and the BT line is now installed and the first part of the work should be completed in December. We will continue to press for completion because the situation needs to be resolved as soon as possible to allow the traffic to flow and not back up.

[Tim Lund]

Presumably this is a bit of physical kit needed, rather than software which could be sent over the internet assuming the license was in place. I just tried googling for a likely specialist engineering business, but not found one. It's hardly where a manufacturing business is likely to locate. Can I ask the name of the business?

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Manwithaview1]

Thames Water live leak map

http://secure.thameswater.co.uk/thamesw ... /index.htm

[Tim Lund]

Just coming back to this, first because I've just heard from my TfL source who I've asked to find out about the "gizmo from New Zealand". No news yet, but he/she has got someone on the case.

On another thread, Rachel asked:

So are you saying that Liam's post was a shabby trick? It certainly aimed to put blame with TfL rather than the Council, but there is always a chance that this is in fact the case. You say you have 'sources' in TfL. Maybe it would have been better to wait until you heard from them before making assumptions about Liam's motivations? Are you sure that your 'sources' won't also play 'shabby tricks', putting the blame on Lewisham?

to the last question I can only say, "I don't know", but because I'll never reveal my source, there will be no very good reason for him/her to lie. Like most people working within large organisations, he/she will be able to see it quite dispassionately. I can imagine there is something to do with a supplier in New Zealand - it's not something someone would have made up from nothing - but the idea that TfL is that incompetent is unlikely.

Moving on, this and some other threads has got me thinking about the general question of openness and transparency - most obvious in connection with Rod Taylor's thread here.

the principles of openness and transparency are what we need to deal with such evident injustices.

MVAW posting the link to Thames Water's live leak map looks like how openness should work, which is one of the reasons I posted a screenshop of it myself in the OP of the Water leak on Silverdale thread. However, the last I have on this (not yet posted there) is from Lewisham's Environmental Health team saying that Thames Water staff have admitted to them that it is their responsibility. I have to say, of course, that this again may not be the whole truth, but at is stands, it looks as if Thames Water, for all the use they make of technology with allows so much openness and transparency, have been misleading me, and the wider public.

I don't have any ideological problem with commercial interests being involved in providing essential requirements, such as food, water and housing, but there have to be rules about information they collect and use being made public. That's why we need laws such as the Freedom of Information Act, and why I feel uncomforatble when anything moves from being subject to FoI - which is what happens, for example when local authority housing is moved to Housing Associations. It's not 'privatisation' in the sense of introducing a private sector owner, but maybe privatisation in the sense of making information no longer public.