Survey

Place Survey: England - Headline Results 2008
Published 23 June 2009
Type(s) Statistics
Site Corporate
ISBN 9781409815426
Price Free

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Summary

The 2008 Place Survey provides information on people's perceptions of their local area and the local services they receive. This release summarises the headline findings for England and Government Office regions.

The survey collects information on 18 national indicators for local government, used to measure local government performance for 152 county councils, metropolitan district councils, London boroughs and unitary authorities. While the Place Survey is primarily intended for use at a local level, national and regional results are provided for benchmarking purposes.

The key points from the latest release are:

About your local area
80 per cent of the population were satisfied with their local area as a place to live
59 per cent felt they belong to their immediate neighbourhood

Your local public services
33 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that their local council provided value for money
45 per cent were, taking everything into account, satisfied with the way their local council runs things

Awareness of civil protection arrangements in local area
15 per cent of the population said that they were very well or fairly well informed about what to do in the event of a large-scale emergency e.g. flooding or human pandemic flu

Local decision-making
29 per cent felt they could influence decisions in their local area

Helping out
23 per cent had participated in formal volunteering at least once a month in the last twelve months

Getting involved
In the last 12 months, 14 per cent of the population had been involved in local decision-making (for example, being a member of a committee or groups relating to local services, education or standing as a local councillor)

Respect and consideration
31 per cent of the population felt that there were problems with people in their local area not treating one another with respect and consideration
72 per cent felt that they were treated with respect and consideration by local services
76 per cent felt that people from different backgrounds got on well together in their local area

Community Safety
29 per cent felt that drunk or rowdy behaviour was a problem in their area; for drug use or drug dealing the figure is 31 per cent
25 per cent felt that police and other local public services sought local people's views on community safety issues; and 26 per cent felt that these bodies were successfully dealing with these problems