Merton becomes first London borough to provide online interactive customer services

The London Borough of Merton has become the first London Borough and one of the first local authorities in the UK to provide residents with interactive customer services online.

Residents with access to the Internet can now make online enquiries, which are automatically tracked by a sophisticated computer system – CONFIRM from SouthbankSystems plc

The new online service will be rolled out for matters to do with the environment, allowing residents to report an abandoned car, graffiti or fly tipping with just three clicks of their mouse (and a bit of typing).

Residents can simply logon to connect to the service. The system helps them to complete their enquiry by using drop down menus and they can leave their phone number, email address and other contact details if they want to.

Their enquiry will automatically be allocated to the right Council officer and if residents provide an email address they will receive an acknowledgment receipt with a reference number and contact details of the Council officer handling their enquiry.

The system will track the progress of their enquiry through every stage through to completion. If residents provide an email address the system can automatically send an email direct to their inbox informing them when their enquiry has been dealt with.

Richard Rawes, Director of Environmental Services said: ‘This initiative is part of our on-going programme to improve service delivery and takes us another step closer towards meeting the Government’s targets for the electronic delivery of services. We very much value the information the public gives us about environmental nuisance. This is one way of the Council and the community working together to improve quality of life in Merton for everyone ‘

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