Councillors' frustration with reporting system
PA MediaAn online system used by councillors to report problems such as potholes, broken road signs, and fly-tipping is still not up to scratch, politicians have said.
Elected members from across Middlesbrough have taken issue with the Councillor Gateway, citing inaccuracies and communication issues.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the gateway system launched in July 2024 as the new method of dealing with councillors' inquiries and reporting issues within a ward.
Chief executive of Middlesbrough Council Erik Scollay acknowledged the "frustration" felt by members and said additional resources had been put in place to make improvements.
At a meeting of the council's audit committee, Labour councillor Jill Ewan said requests in the system were still outstanding from 2025 and possibly even 2024.
She said "faster progress" was needed to improve the service.
Labour councillor David Branson said the "biggest problem" was councillors being told a task had been completed when it had not, which left them looking "daft".
Scollay said he understood the "frustration".
He said: "We put additional resources in the form of two progress checkers into the system in June. We have seen a substantial reduction in the backlog of councillor gateway cases since then, that continues to come down."
A survey of councillors from October 2024 showed higher levels of satisfaction with the new gateway system as opposed to its predecessor.
