Public Opinion Survey 2012

Survey shows majority of residents are satisfied with council

The majority of Vale residents are satisfied with the services provided by the Vale of Glamorgan Council, according to an independent survey.

One thousand Vale residents were interviewed face-to-face in their homes or on the doorstep by market research company Beaufort Research, between December 2011 and January 2012.

An impressive 93 per cent of respondents said they were either "fairly satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the council.

The results show satisfaction with a wide range of services is generally very high, such as 93 per cent for waste management, 95 per cent for parks and 94 per cent for leisure centres.

And there has been a significant increase in residents using the internet both to contact the council and for more information about services, with 96 per cent rating the website as "fair", "good" or "excellent".

But there has been a slight decline in the strength of positive feeling overall, with a shift from people feeling "very satisfied" to "fairly satisfied" since the last survey in 2009.

And although 86 per cent of residents are either very or fairly satisfied with highways maintenance, this figure has fallen from 95 per cent in 2009. This is due largely to fall in satisfaction with road maintenance at 42 per cent, down from 80 per cent, and gritting the roads, which is down to 78 per cent from 96 per cent.

The council commissions an independent public opinion survey every two years to find out residents’ opinions of its services. The results help inform service planning and help council departments pinpoint any problem areas.

Residents are randomly sampled and quotas are used to ensure that the mix of respondents are representative of the Vale’s population.

The Beaufort Research report states: “On the whole, overall satisfaction levels have remained high, against a difficult economic backdrop and severe cuts in public sector budgets, and therefore it is important to consolidate this over the next few years.”

Read the full report here.