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Waverley Borough Council Committee System - Committee Document

Meeting of the Executive held on 12/06/2007
BEST VALUE SATISFACTION SURVEYS 2006/07


Summary & Purpose
Waverley Borough Council has a statutory requirement, under the Best Value legislation, to conduct resident satisfaction surveys on a tri-annual basis. The requirements of survey timing are such that all local authorities in England will be conducting broadly identical exercises during the same financial year. The most recent round of surveys, which cover the areas of General Household Satisfaction, Housing, Planning and Benefits, was conducted during the course of financial year 2006/07.

This report headlines Waverley’s 2006/07 partially provisional outturn against the Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) derived from the four survey exercises. The surveys themselves, however, have generated a depth of information far wider than the BVPIs alone. Where available, this information is also contained in the accompanying annexes.
APPENDIX E
Waverley Borough Council

EXECUTIVE - 12th JUNE 2007

Title:
BEST VALUE SATISFACTION SURVEYS 2006/07
[Wards Affected: All]

Summary and purpose:

Waverley Borough Council has a statutory requirement, under the Best Value legislation, to conduct resident satisfaction surveys on a tri-annual basis. The requirements of survey timing are such that all local authorities in England will be conducting broadly identical exercises during the same financial year. The most recent round of surveys, which cover the areas of General Household Satisfaction, Housing, Planning and Benefits, was conducted during the course of financial year 2006/07.

This report headlines Waverley’s 2006/07 partially provisional outturn against the Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) derived from the four survey exercises. The surveys themselves, however, have generated a depth of information far wider than the BVPIs alone. Where available, this information is also contained in the accompanying annexes.

Environmental implications:

This report has no direct environmental implications.

Social / community implications:

The Best Value Performance Indicators generated from the satisfaction surveys are a comprehensive measure of community satisfaction with Waverley Borough Council and its services. The methodology for conducting these surveys allows direct comparison with other local authorities nationwide.

E-Government implications:

Nationwide satisfaction survey results for District and Borough Councils will be published on the Audit Commission’s website (expected at some stage during June 2007).

Resource and legal implications:

The conducting of Best Value Satisfaction surveys, according to a nationally prescribed methodology, is a statutory requirement on Waverley Borough Council. The costs of the three surveys that were undertaken by contractors (General Households, Benefits and Planning) are set out at Annexe 4 to this report.

Background

1. Waverley Borough Council has a statutory requirement, under the Best Value legislation, to conduct resident satisfaction surveys on a tri-annual basis. The most recent round of surveys was conducted during the course of financial year 2006/07, and covered: · General Households
· Benefits
· Housing
· Planning 2. The surveys are conducted according to a strict format and timetable. The Audit Commission’s summary timetable is attached at Annexe 5.

3. The surveys produce a wealth of information concerning perception of Council performance. Full reports are contained in the annexes to this report, as follows: · General Households (Annexe 1)
· Benefits (To Follow)
· Housing (Annexe 2)
· Planning (To Follow) Quality of Life 4. In respect of Quality of Life (extracted from the General Households Survey), data shows that 83% of the Borough’s residents are satisfied with Waverley as a place to live, with only 6% dissatisfied.

5. Respondents were also asked to identify, from a selection of factors, what makes an area a good place to live. From the same list of factors, respondents were asked to indicate which they felt needed most improvement in Waverley. Figures 1 and 2 (below) show headline results.

Number of residents identifying as an important QoL Factor
Number of residents identifying as needing improvement in Waverley
RESPECT Indicators 6. The General Survey also produced data to inform the national RESPECT indicators, which provide a measure of crime and disorder issues in the Borough. The key indicator shows that the proportion of residents perceiving antisocial behaviour to be a problem in Waverley has dropped from 31% in 2003/04 to just 11% in 2006/07.

7. Whilst comparable historical data is not available for the other RESPECT measures, the proportion of residents who perceive the following areas to be a problem in Waverley was as follows:

Parents not taking responsibility for the behaviour of their children41%
People not treating each other with sufficient respect and consideration30%
How informed they are about the Council’s contribution to reducing antisocial behaviour26%
Satisfaction with Council Performance 8. The output on which the Audit Commission formally assesses the Council, however, is the set of Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) calculated from the results. Annexe 3 to this report presents the provisional (unaudited) 2006/07 outturn against Waverley’s BVPI satisfaction measures, detailing:

· Waverley’s comparative performance against each PI in the 03/04 surveys
· The weighted score for 06/07
· Whether the trend between 03/04 and 06/07 has been positive or negative · Where available, the ‘All England Councils’ quartile
2 Instead of being based on mean outturn, quartiles are calculated by grouping councils around a median measure of average performance (i.e 50% of Councils in quartiles 1 (top) and 2, 50% in quartiles 3 and 4 (bottom)).

Recommendation

It is recommended that the report be noted.

Background Papers (MD)

There are no background papers (as defined by Section 100D(5) of the Local Government Act 1972) relating to this report.

CONTACT OFFICERS:

Name: Christopher Ash (General & Benefits)
Telephone: 01483 523148
E-mail: cash@waverley.gov.uk Name: Annalisa Howson (Housing STATUS)
Telephone: 01483 523453
E-mail: ahowson@waverley.gov.uk Name: Louise Norie (Planning)
Telephone: 01483 523464
E-mail: lnorie@waverley.gov.uk

Comms/exec/2007/2008/007