ePetition details

Note: *Paper petition submitted to the council with 605 signatures.

We think that this change is unfair and will hit Southwark's most vulnerable tenants and residents the hardest.
Tenants and residents already pay for the repairs service through rents and service charges, and should not be charged twice to access such an essential council service.
The change will also create difficulty for tenants and residents who do not have access to the internet, such as the elderly and those with health complications. Having to pay to call up the repairs line will create barriers for people on pay as you go tariff who simply cannot afford the costs of waiting to have their call answered.
The average wait time for the call centre in February was was 2 minutes and 40 seconds. If a caller is charged 55p per minute to make the call, they will be paying around £1.50. The longest wait time was for 48 minutes: here the caller would be charged £26.40. This is a cost that residents simply cannot afford.
The SGTO is also concerned about the Council’s drive to push residents into accessing services online more generally. Whilst most tenants and residents may not have any trouble using these online services, we are concerned that many people, particularly vulnerable people, risk being ‘left behind’ through not being able to access them. It is these people who rely on Council services the most who will be hit the hardest, and the change from the 0800 to the 0300 number illustrates this.

On reaching 500 signatures An officer will give evidence at a public meeting of the council's overview and scrutiny committee

This ePetition ran from 04/09/2017 to 31/10/2017 and has now finished.