Political

Lib Dem tip #26: FixMyStreet smartphone app

Welcome to the latest in my series of tips and advice for Liberal Democrat members, which appear first in the email bulletin run by London Region for party members.

We’ve previously mentioned the benefits of having the Liberal Democrat canvassing app, MiniVAN, and the official Lib Dem federal conference app, but this week it’s time to highlight a non-party app that is massively useful: FixMyStreet.

FixMyStreet makes it really easy to report casework such as potholes, faulty street lights and graffiti whilst out and about using your smartphone – and then also to track progress on resolving them afterwards.

Some councils prefer it if residents use an app such as Love My Street instead, so it’s worth checking if there is an app your council prefers, though FixMyStreet should work anyway. It’s available both for Android and iPhone and you can also use it via the web.

You can read the full set of tips for Lib Dem party members here.

One response to “Lib Dem tip #26: FixMyStreet smartphone app”

  1. In West Berkshire, FixMyStreet interfaces directly with the Council’s CRM system using the “open311” API so reports are logged immediately and assigned to the correct back-office team, bypassing Customer Services (I’m sure this is the case elsewhere, too). Other apps are less efficient because they work by sending an email to Customer Services which then has to be transcribed into the Council’s CRM system.

    The app uses the GPS in your smartphone [a] to work out which council to send the report to, and [b] to note the location (and send it to the council), with a photo if you want.

    Highly recommended – though it’s worth taking a bit of time to compose the “subject” line and the detail of the report carefully so that it’s clear what you are reporting and what you want done. Reports can be private (but not anonymous – you do have to give your contact info) or they can displayed publicly on the http://www.fixmystreet.com website along with follow-ups – as Mark says, very useful for local campaigning!

    (Other defect-reporting apps are available…!)

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