4 files changed, 19 insertions, 7 deletions
diff --git a/perllib/FixMyStreet/App/Controller/Report/New.pm b/perllib/FixMyStreet/App/Controller/Report/New.pm
index ffbb5a161..1e6a3a088 100644
--- a/perllib/FixMyStreet/App/Controller/Report/New.pm
+++ b/perllib/FixMyStreet/App/Controller/Report/New.pm
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ sub process_report : Private {
     $report->detail( $detail );
 
     # set these straight from the params
-    $report->category( _ $params{category} );
+    $report->category( _ $params{category} ) if $params{category};
 
     my $areas = $c->stash->{all_areas};
     $report->areas( ',' . join( ',', sort keys %$areas ) . ',' );
diff --git a/perllib/FixMyStreet/DB/ResultSet/AlertType.pm b/perllib/FixMyStreet/DB/ResultSet/AlertType.pm
index bf085e32a..c1a5d65c9 100644
--- a/perllib/FixMyStreet/DB/ResultSet/AlertType.pm
+++ b/perllib/FixMyStreet/DB/ResultSet/AlertType.pm
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@ use base 'DBIx::Class::ResultSet';
 use strict;
 use warnings;
 
-use File::Slurp;
-
 use mySociety::DBHandle qw(dbh);
 use mySociety::EmailUtil;
 use mySociety::Gaze;
@@ -189,7 +187,7 @@ sub _send_aggregated_alert_email(%) {
         unless -e $template;
     $template = FixMyStreet->path_to( "templates", "email", "default", "$data{template}.txt" )->stringify
         unless -e $template;
-    $template = File::Slurp::read_file($template);
+    $template = Utils::read_file($template);
 
     my $sender = $cobrand->contact_email;
     (my $from = $sender) =~ s/team/fms-DO-NOT-REPLY/; # XXX
diff --git a/perllib/FixMyStreet/DB/ResultSet/Questionnaire.pm b/perllib/FixMyStreet/DB/ResultSet/Questionnaire.pm
index 665e0e3e0..0cf01b6d1 100644
--- a/perllib/FixMyStreet/DB/ResultSet/Questionnaire.pm
+++ b/perllib/FixMyStreet/DB/ResultSet/Questionnaire.pm
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use base 'DBIx::Class::ResultSet';
 
 use strict;
 use warnings;
-use File::Slurp;
+use Encode;
 use Utils;
 use mySociety::EmailUtil;
 
@@ -57,12 +57,12 @@ sub send_questionnaires_period {
         my $template;
         if ($params->{site} eq 'emptyhomes') {
             ($template = $period) =~ s/ //;
-            $template = File::Slurp::read_file( FixMyStreet->path_to( "templates/email/emptyhomes/" . $row->lang . "/questionnaire-$template.txt" )->stringify );
+            $template = Utils::read_file( FixMyStreet->path_to( "templates/email/emptyhomes/" . $row->lang . "/questionnaire-$template.txt" )->stringify );
         } else {
             $template = FixMyStreet->path_to( "templates", "email", $cobrand->moniker, "questionnaire.txt" )->stringify;
             $template = FixMyStreet->path_to( "templates", "email", "default", "questionnaire.txt" )->stringify
                 unless -e $template;
-            $template = File::Slurp::read_file( $template );
+            $template = Utils::read_file( $template );
         }
 
         my %h = map { $_ => $row->$_ } qw/name title detail category/;
diff --git a/perllib/Utils.pm b/perllib/Utils.pm
index c9afff186..954561a08 100644
--- a/perllib/Utils.pm
+++ b/perllib/Utils.pm
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ package Utils;
 
 use strict;
 use Encode;
+use File::Slurp qw();
 use POSIX qw(strftime);
 use mySociety::DBHandle qw(dbh);
 use mySociety::GeoUtil;
@@ -262,4 +263,17 @@ sub _part {
     }
 }
 
+=head2 read_file
+
+Reads in a UTF-8 encoded file using File::Slurp and decodes it from UTF-8.
+This appears simplest, rather than getting confused with binmodes and so on.
+
+=cut
+sub read_file {
+    my $filename = shift;
+    my $data = File::Slurp::read_file( $filename );
+    $data = Encode::decode( 'utf8', $data );
+    return $data;
+}
+
 1;