Interview with Roger Adley, Head of Communications.

Roger Adley, Head of Communalisations, introduced the Residents Satisfaction Survey which he explained was an independent postal survey conducted by Lake Market Research from November 2011 to January 2012.  Members were informed that this was within the same timescale as the previous ‘Place Survey’ conducted in 2008. The questions were not like for like but there was a continuation of a number of questions that could be tracked.

It was explained that survey asked a number of questions about the Council’s Priorities.  He noted that there was a strong correlation between value for money and customer satisfaction.  Areas where customer satisfaction was high included communications and a rise in satisfaction was noted with doorstop recycling, local decision making and treating people fairly. Areas where there was a slight fall in satisfaction were with refuse and street collection and different backgrounds getting on well together.

Members were informed that residents had been asked to vote on a list of actions to help deliver the Council’s priorities. These included encouraging new business, attracting investment, keeping the elderly and disabled in their own homes for longer, affordable housing, energy efficiency and improving consultation with residents .

The Officer explained that the results of the survey had been analysed on a ward by ward basis so that areas where there were differences in satisfaction levels could be addressed.

Members were pleased to see that satisfaction with the Council was high but there was some disappointment that the ward results did not always echo the same levels of satisfaction and the successes that as ward Members, they were aware of. The Committee questioned what targeted work was going to be done with wards to address the areas highlighted and how the information that underpinned the results would be used. The Officer explained that this would be addressed by each manager in their service planning. He told Members that the results had been very pleasing and the insight into the improvements that needed to be made would be something that Cabinet would be keen to take forward.

Ellie Kershaw, Policy and Performance Manager, informed Members that although exact benchmarking could not be done with the results, she had been in touch with other authorities and those carrying out surveys would share their results to enable some comparison to be made.

The Committee considered the question relating to the satisfaction of the Leisure Centre. It was felt that comparisons between the use of the Leisure Centre and other facilities such as the YMCA and private gyms would be useful in future surveys.  Members felt that this was especially important in aiding the fitness of Maidstone residents

A member questioned the way in which the results of Question 3 ‘Percentage of people agreeing that they can influence decisions affecting their local area’ would be addressed as it was noted the satisfaction level was low. Mr Adley informed Members that the Democratic Services Manager was already looking at this issue.  The use of Social Networking sites for agendas, decisions and notices was being investigated and other innovative methods. Miss Kershaw advised that the Localism Act would give residents new powers in their local area and in two years time when the next survey was carried out there could be an impact as a result of this.

It was recommended that:

a)  The content of the report should be noted by the Committee;

b)  The question ‘How satisfied are you with each of the following services… Maidstone Leisure Centre?’ in the Residents Satisfaction Survey be expanded to include the usage of other fitness facilities in the borough including the YMCA centres and private gyms so that the fitness of the borough can be evaluated; and

c)  Members of the Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee begin a dialogue with Officers about the results of the Residents Survey in relation to their wards.  This should be done with a view to further evaluation of the results of the survey returning to the Committee in 3 months time and the evidence being utilised widely by all Members and Officers.