Liverpool City Council - 2006/07 best value general satisfaction survey

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2006/07 best value general satisfaction survey

Background

The central government requires councils to survey their citizens every three years to measure their satisfaction with council services. We can then use the results from these surveys to influence improvements in services.  For our 2006/07 survey, a sample of Liverpool residents was surveyed between September and November 2006 via a questionnaire. 

View a copy of the questionnaire (PDF [177.9Kb] opens in new window).

Summary of results:

1. The way the council runs things

  • 56% of people surveyed are satisfied with the way the council runs things, a similar level of satisfaction to the previous survey held in 2003/04, with 15% being dissatisfied
  • 29% of people felt that the council has got better at running things, 16% felt it has got worse.
  • A clear majority of people felt that the council treats all types of people fairly, is making the local area a better place to live and is working to make the area cleaner and greener.
  • Approximately half of people felt that the council acts on the concerns of local residents and promotes their interests, and provides good value for money.    

Analysis by neighbourhood management area

Below are the levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the way the council runs things expressed by people in the city's 5 neighbourhood management areas.

South Central neighbourhood 65% were satisfied and 10% dissatisfied

South Liverpool neighbourhood 65% were satisfied and 11% dissatisfied

East Liverpool neighbourhood 53% were satisfied and 14% dissatisfied

Alt Valley neighbourhood 52% were satisfied and 18% were dissatisfied

City and north Liverpool neighbourhood 43% were satisfied and 23% were dissatisfied


2. Contact with the council

  • 22% of people had contacted the council with a complaint over the previous year, and amongst these people, 27% were satisfied with how the complaint was handled.
  • 60% of people said they had contacted the council other than to complain over the previous 12 months, mainly to report an issue or problem or to ask for information. Of these people, 59% were satisfied with the outcome of their contact, 31% were dissatisfied    

3. Information giving

  • 58% of people felt that the council does not keep them very or fairly well informed about the services and benefits it provides.
  • Those who said they did feel informed about the council said that they tended to get information from the local media, or from the council itself.    

4. Local services

Most people said that they were satisfied with the following local services:

  • refuse and recycling services (61%)
  • household waste collection (81%)
  • local waste recycling facilities (55%)
  • doorstep recycling collection (67%)
  • the local tip (77%)
  • buses (71%) and public transport information (66%)
  • sports and leisure facilities (58%)
  • libraries (73%)
  • museums and galleries (77%)
  • theatres and concert halls (73%)
  • parks and open spaces (74%)    

It was felt that the majority of these services had improved over the past 3 years.

5. Housing services

  • 22% of people said that they had used housing services provided by the council over the past year, and of those, 62% were satisfied    

6. Planning services

  • 7% of people had used council planning services over the past year, 48% were satisfied with the services, 32% expressed a level of dissatisfaction    

7. Personal social services

  • 14% of people had used personal social services in the past year, 49% were satisfied, 27% expressed a level of dissatisfaction    

8. Fire and rescue service

  • 10% of people had used the fire and rescue service during the past year, 89% of these people were satisfied with the service    

9.  Education service

  • A quarter of people had used the local authority education service during the past year.  64% were satisfied, 14% expressed dissatisfaction    

10. Quality of life and community cohesion

64% of people said they were satisfied with their local area as a place to live, with the following factors mainly making somewhere a good place to live:

  • the level of crime (61%)
  • clean streets (48%)
  • affordable decent housing (37%)
  • health services (32%) 
  • public transport (28%)    

Factors that people felt need to be improved in their local areas included:

  • the level of crime (50%)
  • activities for teenagers (49%)
  • clean streets (39%)
  • road and pavement repairs (38%)
  • the level of traffic congestion (31%)    


65% of people thought that their local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together.

11. Local decision making

  • 25% of people felt satisfied with opportunities provided by the council for participation in local decision making, 25% were dissatisfied.
  • 65% of people disagreed that they can influence decisions affecting their local area, however, 25% felt that they would like to be more involved in council decision making in their local area.    

Read the complete report (PDF [928.2Kb] opens in new window) on the survey 

For more information about this survey please contact Pauline Crabtree, head of customer contact: tel: 0151 225 2886  email: pauline.crabtree@liverpool.gov.uk