TER101The Road Services Department at The City of Edinburgh Council has won a prestigious public service award.

We are sure that you, like us, will have to read this article a couple of times before it becomes apparent that the department in question is really part of the Edinburgh Council and it is really dealing with road services. But then that is nothing to do with tie who still have everything to do with the tram project. So that is part of the reason why we have lovely new services underground but still have holes in the road until the track is about to be laid.

We are told that Road Services, part of the Council’s Services for Communities Department has won an APSE (Association of Public Service Excellence) award in the ‘Best Efficiency’ category.

The Gully Repairs section in the Road Services Team, won the prize for using mobile computing technology which resulted in improved customer service and reduced the time spent on administration. Staff engagement and improved working practice also led to a better response time for gully repairs – with the average time taken to respond to customers reducing by around 80%.

Above all, the project saved around £17,000 in staff time. Other successes include greater co-ordination of routine cleaning, high pressure jetting and improved traffic management for the service.

Jenny Dawe, leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “I would like to congratulate all the staff involved for their hard work and enthusiasm. This was a forward-thinking and worthwhile project, putting customers first, which is at the core of our Council.”

Paul O’Brien, APSE’s chief executive, said: “With over 300 submissions throughout the UK this award for best efficiency initiative is well deserved by City of Edinburgh Council. All our award winners needed to demonstrate that they were doing their bit to improve local public services and I have great pleasure congratulating them on this prestigious and well deserved award.”

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.