Column 27, or maybe 28
Some town and parish councils own a stock of footway lights, often in older estates or village centres, with the county owning the rest. A resident emails to say the light outside number 14 Orchard Way is out. The clerk checks the column list, a spreadsheet inherited from a previous clerk, which has column numbers but no reliable locations. Is it column 27 or 28? Is it even one of ours?
The clerk emails the maintenance contractor with a best guess. The contractor attends, finds it is 28, fixes it, and invoices at the end of the quarter with a list of column numbers and dates. The clerk now has to check that list against the emails sent over three months, and against the resident reports, to see whether everything invoiced was actually instructed and whether anything instructed was never fixed.
Where lighting admin breaks down
The asset is physical and spread across the parish, but the records are a list with no map. Faults come from residents, councillors and the contractor's own night scouts, each described differently. Instructions go by email, repairs come back on an invoice, and nothing joins them up.
- The column list lacks accurate locations, so residents' descriptions cannot be matched.
- It is unclear which columns belong to the council and which to the county.
- Jobs are instructed by email with no job number.
- The contractor's invoice is the first confirmation that a repair happened.
- Column condition and lantern type are not recorded, so replacement planning is guesswork.
What the gaps cost
Lights stay out longer than they need to while the right column is worked out. Some faults are reported to the wrong body and bounce back. Invoices are paid without being properly checked because checking them is too time consuming, and repeat faults on the same column are not noticed. When the council discusses replacing old lanterns, nobody can say how many there are of each type or which ones fail most.
Anything about electrical safety or inspection requirements is for your contractor and advisers. We deal with the records.
A column register with a fault log
- Your column list is turned into a register with each column's number, location on a map, lantern type, owner and any notes. Locations can be confirmed with a walk round using a phone.
- A fault form on your website shows a map of council-owned columns, so residents tap the column rather than describing it. Faults on county columns are directed to the county's reporting service.
- Each fault gets a job reference. The clerk approves it and the job is sent to the contractor by email or through their portal, with the column number and location.
- The contractor marks the job complete with the date and what was done, by replying to the job email or filling in a short form.
- The contractor's invoice is checked against completed jobs, and anything invoiced without a job, or instructed and not invoiced, is flagged.
- Each column's history of faults and repairs is kept, so repeat faults show up.
| Report | Useful for |
|---|---|
| Open faults by age | Chasing the contractor |
| Invoice lines without a matching job | Querying the invoice before payment |
| Columns with repeat faults | Replacement decisions |
| Stock by lantern type | Budgeting for upgrades |
What a quarter looks like with it
Faults arrive against the right column. Jobs go to the contractor with a reference, and completions come back against the same reference. When the quarterly invoice arrives, the clerk sees a matched list with two exceptions to query, instead of an afternoon with emails and a highlighter. At budget time the council can see the lantern stock and which columns keep failing.
Does your lighting admin look like this?
- Your column list is a spreadsheet without reliable locations.
- Residents' fault reports are hard to match to a column.
- Jobs are instructed by email with no reference.
- Contractor invoices are hard to check against instructions.
- Nobody knows how many lanterns of each type you own.