Update 31/05/2024: Please be advised the recycling centre is now open as normal.

Due to a mechanical breakdown Forres Household Waste Recycling Centre is closed until further notice.

Household Waste and Recycling can be taken to Chanonry Household Waste Recycling Centre without a booking. We will provide an update when available.

Update 30/05: Please be advised this issue has now been resolved by ICT and the map functionality has resumed in the script. If any issues persist please raise via your Senior.

There has been an issue while carrying out the work on the GIS / Maps this morning and work is still ongoing to resolve this.
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Just to advise there may be some disruption to the Lagan maps while this is conducted but we will let you know when the issue is resolved.

The above Excess Charge Notice has had the £60 payment period extended until 5pm on Wednesday 5 June 2024. I have marked this on the database. The customer’s name is Ryan Addison, vehicle registration AD16 SON.

Please be advised the crew never managed to finish the bulkies yesterday, they still have 4 to do in Forres which will be done today.

Please be advised there has been an update to the Licensing script dialogue.

When processing Licensing Payments you will now be reminded that ALL annual license fees should have a corresponding invoice number. This will be noted on the reminder letter received by the customer and they should provide it to you. Please raise all annual license fee payments via the invoice number so they may be processed accordingly.

Any questions of course pass via your Senior.

23/05/24 - Below is a final update on the m.connect service intervention, which will be emailed to customers and put out on FB today.

We are pleased to let you know that we will be returning to on-the-day bookings from Monday 27 May 2024.  The app and overall system has responded well to the technical repairs and updates completed to date, showing Performance Improvement across all versions.  There are still some parts of the system that require additional work relating to geofence mapping and load interface responses, but these can be completed without impacting on routine booking and management functions.  We would like to thank all our m.connect customers for your patience over the past few weeks, and hope that you are experiencing and benefiting from all the improvements made to date.  We continue to work on system and operational improvements in the hope that it offers a better customer experience for you.  

All existing bookings remain unaffected by the return to normal service booking patterns.  If you’ve any questions, please email us on m.connectadmin@moray.gov.uk and we’ll do our very best to help.

16/05/24 - Suspension of same day bookings will continue until 26th May 2024. Same day bookings will be available again from Monday 27th May 2024. If a customer asks for a same day booking please advise there is currently no availablility.

Following an increase in concerns raised by customers over the last few weeks, the PTU team have carried out a review of processes within their team and as a result have identified a number of key areas that require some work to hopefully restore confidence to all M.Connect users including drivers & Customer Services. Please see a list below of some temporary changes that are being made:

 • Suspension of same day booking service for Customer Services and APP users – All M.Connect users who have an Email address registered on the system will receive the following Email which is due to go out this afternoon (03/05/2024) & it will also be added to the M.Connect webpages, Council’s social medial channels. However, the PTU team appreciate that some customers may miss this so Customer Services staff are asked to ensure that they also offer this clear information should a customer call querying why they cannot make a same day booking (should this window period need to be extended the PTU team will keep us updated but hopefully it won’t):

Good afternoon As a valued customer we’re getting in touch to let you know about some improvements we’re making. The booking and management platform supporting M.Connect is being updated to enable group bookings and to make some behind the scenes changes around journey efficiency. To do this we will need to temporarily suspend ‘on the day’ bookings for 2 weeks from 7 May (until 21 May). You can still use the app or phone line but will need to book your journey by 3pm the day before travel. All existing confirmed bookings are also unaffected. We’re really sorry that this will cause a little bit of inconvenience, however it’s the best way for us to make the improvements and have the ability to check that everything is working in the background. We’re looking forward to continued improvement on the back of this, to keep making public transport journeys in Moray easier.

If you’ve any questions please email us on ptuteam@moray.gov.uk and we’ll do our best to help. 

Best wishes 

The M.Connect team 

• All M.Connect journey booking concerns from Customers – the PTU team have admitted that they are struggling with the number of Lagan cases being raised back to them re-customers who’ve contacted about a booking issues e.g. bus hasn’t turned up, customer didn’t receive a confirmation message etc. So that Emma & I can better inform PTU of the volumes, please DO NOT raise Lagan cases to PTU for these instead Email details (via Lagan) to the senior mailbox. Seniors, I will pass on separate instructions for how these should be handled by you. 

• All M.Connect journey booking queries from Advisors – these should be emailed to the senior mailbox so that the senior on rota can support you with how best to proceed. Again we’re simply trying to reduce volumes and get a handle on the volume of work going back to the PTU team so thank you in advance for your support with this. 

• Signalling issues for driver tablets – the sim cards in drivers tablets were originally changed in mid-2023 from single operator sim cards (EE) to multi-operator sim cards which effectively meant that the tablets would use the best signal available e.g. EE, Vodafone Three etc. this was done to improve speed/performance. However, unfortunately this change appears to have caused a number of other issues which have only recently come to light. As a result the service will be returning to single operator Sims which will be closely monitored by the PTU team over the coming weeks. This change will have absolutely no impact on the LIFTANGO booking platform used by Advisors. 

• Addresses not found on LIFTANGO – as we know there are a number of addresses which do not appear to be on LIFTANGO (e.g. Anne Poppleton, 1 Ruthrie Cottages, Glenallachie) which means Advisors are required to enter the customer’s postcode & add the customer’s full address and any additional location information as a driver notes. In order to reduce this, LIFTANGO previously created something called “Private Hubs” which were to be created by PTU for known problematic address and these Private HUB addresses could then be used by Customer Services for any future/recurring bookings. The PTU team will be starting to make full use of the “Private Hub” function on LIFTANGO. The M.Connect FAQ’s (pinned to the top of the DD news page) have been updated by Emma to include a new section called “Property not found/ addressing issues – Use of private hubs” or click this link Direct & Development – News – Interchange. 

Although I would love to say that this post will cover everything there’s a possibility that it won’t and therefore if you have any questions, please email the seniors mailbox in the 1st instance. 

Kindest regards 

Donna / Customer Service Team Leader

Lyn Main is still currently off until 30 June 2024. Money Advice Moray does not have facility to provide appeal service, so the following arrangements if customers are wanting help with challenging DWP and/or Social Security Scotland benefits.

Customer should be referred to the following services:

Voiceability- for challenging any devolved Scottish Benefits (e.g. Adult Disability Payment, Child Disability Payment). Referrals and enquiries: 0300 303 1660 or emailing- helpline.Scotland@voiceability.org
Moray CAB- can assist with challenging DWP and HMRC decisions (e.g. Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit, Tax Credits). However Moray CAB have limited staff resources to deal with this. Telephone number 01343 550088
Social Security Scotland- For those who are seeking for a higher award than they are currently getting for their Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Child and Adult Disability Payment, please contact Social Security Scotland freephone 0800 182 2222.

Due to emergency repairs the mens toilets at Hopeman are currently closed.

The disabled toilet has been left unlocked and the female toilets remain open.

The mens toilets will be reopened as soon as the repairs have been carried out.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

The crew attended to collect a 3 piece suite from the above address yesterday – the householder advised that she got rid of the sofa herself.

Crew still attended so no refund will be permitted, in case any enquiries come in.

Something has gone wrong with the calendars when ICT were trying to fix an issue earlier – Mosstodloch was showing as a Friday collection instead of Tuesday as they were collected on a Friday at New Year – ICT are continuing to work on this issue.

The website will be showing “Under Maintenance” until the issue is resolved – which will hopefully be soon.

Update 13/05: Please note the issue with the bin calendars has now been resolved.

Please note we are currently aware that the above temporary lights are stuck on red.

This has been reported to Hatton Traffic Management by the service and will be dealt with in due course.

Due to an error with the bin calendar we are aware that a number of households missed green and recycling bin collections on Tuesday 7th May.

Green and recycling bins and glass will be collected on Friday 10th May as was shown on the bin calendar for this collection only.

The bin calendar is being updated to show the correct collection dates. Your green and recycling bins will continue to collected on a Tuesday going forward.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused.