Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Dumped Rubbish Reports Closed without Action
Nine days ago, I reported the latest dump at Hewitt Road's favourite dumping spot alongside "Bun & Bar". Four days later I noticed it was still there. So I reported it again. By the time I'd walked up the hill I received an email telling me that the report had been closed as a duplicate. So I reported it again with an explanatory note.
Today something similar happened. I reported a dump at Hewitt Road's second favourite dumping spot - next to the parking ticket machine. A couple of hours later, I got an email telling me that it had been cleared and the report was closed. I suspect that because it looked similar to a dump I reported there two days ago, that it too has been closed as a duplicate without actually having been actioned, but I'm not minded to go and check.
This seems like a potentially worrying trend. Reporting via the app has usually been pretty efficient and reliable. What I fear is that a directive has gone out to improve clear-up rates and staff are under pressure so are making inappropriate decisions.
I do hope not.
I've written to Veolia and to the Council (cc Zena Brabazon) to express my concern and flag a potential issue.
UPDATE: At 19:49, I got an email telling me that my second report had been closed. I had to go down the road for some groceries, so was able to check. The dump had indeed gone. So, unlike the first incident, either the dump got cleared in the two hours following my report, which would be stellar, or it was cleared following my second report. Either way, I've had no communication about what happened. On top of the first incident, this one just serves to reduce my confidence in the system. It probably won't change my reporting behaviour. But for many others, it could.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Robert Pike on
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It is about time we publicly embarrass Veolia on this.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Isn't it customary to examine the evidence before the guilty verdict and sentence?
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Permalink Reply by Zena Brabazon on
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Thanks Hugh
I will follow this up but don't expect an answer by return. I might be lucky, but the Council has 10 days to respond to a member enquiry. Meanwhile I'll contact David Shipp our local enforcement manager.
Zena
Zena Brabazon
Cllr, Harringay Ward
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Permalink Reply by anton on
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Whilst you do this, would you mind checking why we can't solve the issue bins issue in Pemberton road...? I have submitted yet one more complaint about it a few days ago, but I suspect nothing will be done about it, as per all previous complaints.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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I've used it hundreds of times, Tris. If you read the circumstances around the first report that I outlined above, it was evidently not what you suggest. It may have been a one-off blip. That's what I initially assumed and left it at that. But when something odd happened yesterday, I wondered if a pattern was developing and thought it worth following-up.
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Tris, I'm not sure that one short post and an email constitutes a lot of fuss. I've already owned the possibility of my being concerned needlessly and this being a one-off. But I explained why I had concerns.
I tend not to make a fuss about nothing so as not to waste valuable council officer time. However, the comments of others suggests that there is something not working quite right. If councils want co-production to work, they'd better make sure that their systems are kept up-to scratch.
At a time when the Council are trumpeting a new strategy over dumping, this sort of potential issue warrants checking out. If there's no problem, I'll be delighted.
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I've had the same problem a few times. It tends to happen if you want to report something which doesn't fit well with how the app works eg if you're not able to add a photo or if there's something which has been dumped AND been spilt, which means there's two tasks but only one ends up getting done.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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I always get emails saying that my report has been closed after I’ve raised a case on the app and just assumed that the complaints handler in the Haringey Customer Service Team has to “close” it in order to send it on to Veolia, otherwise it sits as an unallocated “open” case requiring attention from the person in customer services.
Perhaps it would be clearer if they changed the script in the system so the email says something like “Case allocated to Veolia” or whoever has been given the job of dealing with it.
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I think normally dump reports get closed when they're completed. Non-dump reports end to get closed off on the report system and allocated out. I assume this is because Veolia are the primary users of the system.
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I think they probably run the same system as a lot of other councils (the report it app is generic, it send reports to different councils as it geolocates where you are and if they use the system). The Camden one is the one I know and all the reports are filtered by customer services first as people often assign the wrong categories to the problem described. The Customer Service folk then close the case as it’s passed on to the appropriate operative.
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That's maybe what happened yesterday, but it's certainly not what happened with the first one. The first one was closed yet the dump was still there four days later. Then it was closed again as a duplicate. It's not the end of the world, but whether you like it or not, Tris, the system failed twice on the same dump.
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