·         1261 weighted responses to the survey.

·         Note: not every respondent answered every question. N/A responses have been removed from analysis. Confidence levels, error rate and number of respondents are shown in brackets depending on the question type. 

·         Data was weighted based on gender and age.

Feelings & Impact

·         The average score of respondents, when asked how worried they were about Coronavirus, was 6.05 (error 0.07) The scale was 0 to 10, 0 is not worried at all and 10 is extremely worried. Overall, 30.7% (±2.6%) scoring at 8 or above.

·         The majority of residents were identifying as following the rules and guidance put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus with 97.6% (±0.8%) of respondents saying they completely or mostly follow the rules.

·         26.2%(±2.4%) of people said they felt unsafe when outside of their household due to Coronavirus. 52.6% (±2.4%) of people said they felt safe.

·         98.4% (±0.7%) of people said that Coronavirus has had an impact on their life

·         Below were the top three concerns about the coronavirus

o    You or your friends and family Catching Coronavirus

o    Other people not following the guidance

o    The economy

·         People were asked about the positive and negative impacts of Coronavirus:

o    53.0% (±2.8%) said it has had a positive impact on buying more locally

o    62.6% (±2.8%) said it has negatively impacted, or not impacted at all, their ability to travel more sustainably.

o    52.9% (±2.8%) said it has negatively impacted their mental health

o    41.2% (±2.8%) said it has negatively impacted the level of loneliness they feel

o    70.0% (±2.5%) said it has positively impacted their use of technology to keep in touch with family and friends.

·         When asked for comments, the respondents overwhelmingly felt that they had been negatively impacted by Coronavirus and/or lockdown. Impacts they stated they have experienced included: impacts on relationships with friends and family; impacts on health; impacts on jobs/work; and impacts of the Coronavirus restrictions.

Economic & Lifestyle

·         17.3% (±2.1%) of the people expect to experience significant financial difficulties in the next few months as a result of disruption from Coronavirus, respondents that said they were retired had the lowest proportion responding ‘Yes’ to this question at 2.7% (±2.2%) and respondents that told us they had been furloughed had the greatest proportion responding ‘Yes’ at 45.4% (+18.1%).

·         Overall, 2.3% (29 respondents) of all respondents said were currently furloughed and 1.2% (15 respondents) said they were small business owners.

·         60.4% (713) of the respondents said that during lockdown there had been no change to their work circumstances. 11.7% (138) said that they were furloughed at some point during lockdown and 4.4% (52) said they had lost their job (neither furloughed nor made redundant).

·         65.2% (±2.7%) of people said they were going to continue to use technology more to keep in touch with family or friends. 58.1% (±2.8%) said they’d like to keep in touch with their neighbours and community.

·         75.6% (±2.4%) of people said they will keep using local parks and open spaces.

The Council & Support

·         The average score of respondents, when asked how well they felt the Council had responded to the pandemic, was 6.28 (error 0.06). The scale was 0 to 10, 0 is not worried at all and 10 is extremely worried.

·         When asked what activities people were aware of, most of the answers came out around 50/50. However, 61.8% (±2.7%) of people did not know that we provided phone support for isolated people. 77.6% (±2.3%) of people did not know that we provided a retail, leisure and hospitality fund.

·         When asked how well the respondents thought MBC did at keeping residents informed about:

o    Maidstone local issues, 50.4% (±3.2%) said well or very well

o    Covid19, 46.4% (±3.2%) said well or very well

o    Changes to council services during the pandemic, 47.0% (±3.2) said well or very well

·         Of the 20.1% (±2.2%) of respondents who identified that they needed help during the pandemic (253 people), 51.3% (±6.2%) said they didn’t know where to go (130 people).

·         Support was identified as coming from a mix of places including, government, the council, local volunteers, parish councils, friends and families and support via supermarkets.

·         When asked for comments on how we could improve the way we provide information, respondents mentioned email, direct mail, leaflets and social media.

·         Respondents also commented that the most important things the Council could do to help life in our borough recover following the lockdown period would be to ensure the Coronavirus rules are followed/enforced and to support the economy and local businesses.

Respondent Profiles

·         BME and other ethnic groups are underrepresented in the survey (4.2%)

·         27.4% (343) of respondents are, or live with someone who is, shielded/high risk.

·         45.1% (562) of respondents are in couples without dependent children

·         78.2% (982) of respondents own their home

·         80.9% (834) do not receive any form of benefits