98 per cent of Vale of White Horse residents enjoy living here – and are increasingly satisfied with the work of Vale of White Horse District Council according to the results of a survey of more than 1,100 local people.
Overall, 72 per cent of residents said the council is doing a good job (up 3 per cent since the last survey in 2012), 84 per cent say the quality of service is good (up 5 per cent), and 53 per cent would speak positively of the council (up 14 per cent).
According to the survey, a key factor behind residents’ satisfaction is a perception that the council is delivering services in a cost-effective manner. 66 per cent of our residents said that the council provides value for money (up 8 per cent) – this year’s council tax freeze is a great example of this.
Our top-performing service continues to be waste and recycling, with 90 per cent of residents saying that they are satisfied with this service. So it’s good news that we’ve extended our £9 million contract with Biffa until 2024, and we’re investigating potential improvements to services including kerbside collection of small electrical goods and textiles.
The survey also showed there’s been an increase in resident satisfaction in most of our services, including planning, housing, licensing services and arts and cultural facilities.
That said, in light of this good news, we realise that there is always room for improvement. Just under half of our residents think that we have to be more open an honest, and 69 per cent said that we need to make more of an effort to find out what people want. Our newly-published Customer Engagement Charter sets out how we plan to close that gap.
Cllr Matthew Barber, leader of the council, said: “These are great results for the council. Resident satisfaction is the most important measure of the council’s success. I’m especially pleased to see that our residents are so satisfied with the council’s services, as well as feeling that the Vale is a great place to live”.
“We’re also conscious of the need for better resident engagement and that’s why we’ve recently set out commitments for engaging residents to get feedback on what we do and to involve people in the design of new services, policies and proposals and support community-led projects.”