New Municipal Services Office to open on Oct.1: MND

It’s set to improve municipal service delivery.

The new Municipal Services Office (MSO), which was first announced in the Prime Minister’s National Day Rally Speech, will start operating on October 1 2014, the Ministry of National Development revealed yesterday.

The MSO will serve to improve the Government’s overall coordination and delivery of municipal services and will be overseen by Grace Fu, Minister at Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Foreign Affairs.

“Municipal services are services that pertain to the upkeep and improvement of communal living environment of Singaporeans. These include managing the cleanliness of public areas, horticulture maintenance, and maintaining and repairing transport infrastructure,” noted the MND’s release.

Here’s more from the MND:

The MSO’s immediate priority over the first six months is to work with key government agencies to improve feedback management and customer service for these municipal services.

These agencies are AVA, HDB, LTA, NEA, NParks, PA, PUB and SPF. The MSO, together with these agencies, will fine-tune current processes to manage and address public feedback on municipal issues, so that cases can be resolved more quickly and effectively. More agencies may be included if we assess there is a need.

In the longer term, the MSO will expand its scope to review service standards and improve operational processes. This would include systematically analysing feedback and identifying areas where multiple agencies need to work together better to resolve complex cases in a timely manner.

The MSO does not displace the feedback management functions of Government agencies and Town Councils. These agencies will continue to take charge of their domain areas so that the public can be served directly and effectively.

The public should continue to direct their feedback to the respective agency as they have been doing so. The MSO will, however, help government agencies to resolve municipal issues, particularly in areas where multiple agencies are involved in a more efficient and coordinated manner, and in turn help improve the living environment for Singaporeans.