Making it easy to contact the Council (Islington Liberal Democrats)

Islington Liberal Democrats <Islington_ld@cix.co.uk>

Making it easy to contact the Council

February 28, 2003 12:00 AM

Lib Dem Councillors are investing a radical plan to transform the way Islington Council deals with its residents in future. Their vision is that with just one visit, phone call, or Internet visit, all residents should be able to carry out the whole range of their transactions with the Council, instead of having to contact each department separately as at present. The plans are based on research on among Islington residents which showed that however they contact the Council they want to talk to someone who can give them accurate information and deal with their requests. New technology is key to the plan, with residents able to carry out an increasing number of dealings with the Council over the internet. It is already possible to do a number of things in this way, including paying parking fines online. The Council also has a successful Housing RepairLine, opened in December 2000 by Rt Hon Charles Kennedy MP, for tenants to report repairs needed, and the EnviroLine, for residents to report streetscene issues, from broken paving stones to abandoned cars. The plan will include setting up 'Islington Direct' - a one-stop shop where residents will be able to carry out almost all their transactions with the Council. The Council hopes to roll out the new services over the next three years. Cllr George Allan, Executive Member for Customer Focus said "We want to put residents at the centre of what the Council does, and make it as easy as possible for residents to contact us. "We already have the first parts of the scheme in place, and we now have a radical plan to make it easier than ever before to use our services.