Pothole reporting site under review

New council website tools requiring Fifers to hand over personal data before reporting a pothole are being reviewed following criticism.

Councillor Dave Dempsey says the integration of the myaccount system into Fife Council’s website, while well-intended, has made simple tasks such as reporting potholes “complicated” and even “impossible”.

The Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay councillor claims to have tried to report a pothole last week, but his efforts were in vain as the website, in his words, “fell over”.

He has called for council IT bosses to review the use of the new system.

Mr Dempsey said: “It’s not my pothole. It’s location isn’t my personal data. I shouldn’t even have to identify myself. I’m trying to help the council, not the other way round.

“Fife Council talks of going ever more digital and that’s the right way to go. Yet what used to be quick and easy is now complicated/impossible. We need to go back to where we were and we need to do that now.”

The new way of reporting potholes is similar to the old method: Fifers can use an interactive map to pinpoint exactly where the pothole is and upload a photo of it so road engineers can assess how urgently it needs fixing.

However, while the old system asked for an email address for optional updates on the repair, Fife Council now requires locals to log in with their mygov. scot myaccount before they can even report the fault. Diarmuid Cotter, Fife Council’s head of customer and online services, says use of the new system is under review.

He explained: “Our website that has been upgraded in recent months with new services added. It gives customers the opportunity to access our services at a time and place which suits them.

“By signing in it means that, where appropriate, we can keep customers updated with what’s happening about any queries they get in touch with us about.

“We will be reviewing the necessity to sign in for all services in the coming weeks as part of our overall evaluation of the services on the website.”

But Mr Dempsey says registration is a step too far when reporting something impersonal such as a pothole, particularly for those who are less tech-savvy.

“I understand that they might want to bring some contact (with the council) together in the one place and for some types of contact that makes perfect sense,” he added.

“But the fact that I’ve reported a pothole doesn’t make it my pothole and it should be open to people from outside of Fife.”

His comments come after Councillor Altany Craik aired similar concerns at a council committee last week. Mr Craik said the mandatory registration to, in his case, report a missing bin collection would be a “barrier” to effective service and questioned whether it was an “appropriate” way of dealing with requests.