Emma Daniel: New troubleshooters will aid residents' harmony

As lead member for our neighbourhoods, I was very pleased that last week council discussed our plans to establish a new role of 'community troubleshooter' across the city.
Cllr Emma DanielCllr Emma Daniel
Cllr Emma Daniel

When we came into administration, we told residents that we wanted to make the city work for everyone. The innovative thinking that has gone into this new role shows your Labour council meant what we said, and despite austerity we have been determined not to let the council just carry on doing things the same way they have always been done. This role is all about the council being prepared to change when residents say they need a more joined-up approach to problems in neighbourhoods.

So how will this new “community troubleshooter” role work? There will be a whole range of benefits, but here are just three that residents might want to hear about.

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Troubleshooters will be able to support residents who have issues or concerns about HMOs – providing a single point of contact where currently residents do not always know which council department to contact. We have also looked at our approach to managing noise nuisance, and by utilising the new community troubleshooters we will be able to address the fact that noise nuisance doesn’t just happen on a weekend. The new seven-day-a-week service will make it easier for residents to raise noise nuisance issues.

The new role will also help improve contact between communities and the council via the Local Action Teams (LATs). LATs are working hard to tackle problems in neighbourhoods, but any reduction in police engagement with LATs may mean less action to resolve community safety issues over time. The troubleshooters will work with our LATs, and have powers to take issues forward with different agencies and services. I hope LATs and residents will welcome this new support from the council.

Alongside the Community Protection Notices to tackle problem households who dump unsightly waste outside their homes, I believe that our city-wide community troubleshooters will, despite all the difficulties of severe budget cuts, become a really useful new service for our residents.

Emma Daniel is a Labour councillor and lead member for neighbourhoods on Brighton & Hove City Council.

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