Middlesbrough councillors have renewed criticism of the council’s online reporting system, warning that persistent delays and inaccurate updates continue to frustrate elected members and, in some cases, leave them looking “daft”.
Concerns about the cllr gateway were raised at the council’s Audit Committee on 23 July, where members from across the political spectrum said the system was still failing to deliver despite additional resources being introduced.
Labour cllr Jill Ewan said she was concerned the ongoing issues could even have an impact on the 2027 local elections, arguing that faster improvements were needed. Cllr Ewan, a frequent user of the system, told the committee she had submitted around 700 reports, including more than 400 in the past year alone, but said some requests dating back to 2024 and 2025 remained unresolved.
The gateway is used by councillors to report issues ranging from potholes and broken road signs to fly-tipping and environmental problems within their wards.
Fellow Labour cllr David Branson said one of the biggest frustrations was receiving updates stating work had been completed when, in reality, it had not. “The biggest problem is that sometimes we get information that something’s been done, and it hasn’t,” he said.
“That leaves councillors looking daft.”
Cllr Ewan also criticised the way different departments dealt with individual elements of the same issue.
She explained that if she reported an alley containing mattresses, fridges, wood and black bags, separate teams would be assigned to remove different types of waste. As a result, the team removing the mattresses could mark the entire case as complete even though the remaining rubbish was still there.
Responding to the concerns, Middlesbrough Council chief executive Erik Scollay acknowledged councillors frustrations but said improvements were being made.
He said two additional “progress checkers” had been recruited in June to help reduce the backlog of councillor gateway cases.
Mr Scollay told the committee the number of outstanding reports had already fallen significantly and would continue to improve, although he accepted it would take time before all councillors noticed the difference.
Conservative cllr David Coupe questioned why residents could sometimes report problems more quickly through other council channels than elected members could through the gateway. “If a resident is really angry about something, they won’t wait two days and they can actually get things reported quicker than we do,” he said.
Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Coupe said reports submitted through the councillor gateway could, in theory, take 10 to 15 days to be processed, although some were resolved more quickly. He contrasted this with a recent streetlight fault in Thornton, which he said was fixed immediately after being reported directly by a resident.
“In theory, great. In practice, not so great,” he said.
The councillor gateway was introduced in July 2024 to replace the council’s previous OneStop email reporting service.
While an internal councillor survey carried out later that year found higher satisfaction with the gateway than its predecessor, members continue to raise concerns about delays, communication and the accuracy of updates.
