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Your views matter to us
We carried out our annual Wychavon Residents’ Survey from 15 September to 13 October 2024.
This was your chance to tell us what you think about the way we run things, the quality of local services and how you feel about the place where you live. Is there an issue we should be paying more attention to? Is there something we’re getting wrong?
Thank you for your responses, they help us to improve our services and the way we communicate with you.
2024 Resident's Survey
Last year, the survey received 1,458 responses. The range of responses from all age categories was very similar to those in 2023, although there were fewer respondents in the 18 to 34 age group. All results are weighted by age to ensure the sample of responses accurately reflects the district’s population.
Please click on the dropdown headers for the results:
We carried out our annual residents’ survey from 15 September to 13 October 2024.
There were 1,458 responses in total, compared to 1,744 in 2023.
The range of responses from all age categories was similar to those in 2023, although there were fewer respondents in the 18 to 34 age group.
All results are weighted by age to ensure the sample of responses accurately reflects the district’s population.
The survey asked a series of questions about the local area and public services People were asked to think about their local area as being somewhere no more than 15 to 20 minutes walking distance from where they lived.
Question 2: Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your local area as a place to live?
82% of people said they were either very satisfied or fairly satisfied, this was an improvement from 2023. 10% of people were either fairly or very dissatisfied. The remaining 8% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
Question 3: Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with how Wychavon District Council runs things?
72% of people were either very satisfied or fairly satisfied, up from 64% in 2023. Those that are dissatisfied decreased to 13% from 16%.
Question 4: To what extent do you agree or disagree that Wychavon District Council provides value for money?
55% of people agreed with the statement Wychavon District Council provides value for money, an improvement from 2023. 17% disagreed and 28% neither agreed or disagreed.
Question 5: To what extent do you think Wychavon District Council acts on the concerns of local residents?
64% of people agreed either a great deal or a fair amount with the statement Wychavon acted on the concerns of local residents. This is higher than the 61% result in 2023.
Question 6: Overall, how well informed do you think Wychavon District Council keeps residents about the services it provides?
75% of people said they felt well informed by us and 25% not well informed, an improvement on 2023.
Question 7: Do you agree or disagree that you can influence decisions affecting your local area?
43% of people agreed with the statement they could influence decisions in their local area, with 57% disagreeing. This is an improvement on 2023, when 36% agreed and 64% disagreed.
Question 8: If you don’t feel you can influence decisions in your local area, why is this?
People responded to this question in various ways.
- 45% said input from residents was not taken into account (down from 48% in 2023).
- 23% said they were unaware of any means of influencing decisions (down from 30% in 2023).
- 11% of people gave various other reasons.
Question 9: How strongly do you feel you belong to your local area?
79% of people feel that they belong to their local area. This is an improvement on 2023, with the proportion remaining somewhere between 72% and 76% for the previous six years. 21% said they felt not very or not at all strongly connected to their local area, an improvement from 2023.
Question 10: How safe or unsafe do you feel when outside in your local area after dark?
65% of people said they felt safe in their local area after dark. This is a significant improvement from 2023. 18% said they felt unsafe and the remainder said they felt neither safe or unsafe.
Question 11: How safe or unsafe do you feel when outside in your local area during the day?
90% of people said they felt safe in their local area during the day, an improvement on 2023. 6% said they felt neither safe or unsafe, with 4% saying they felt unsafe.
Question 12: To what extent do you agree or disagree that your local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together?
71% of people agreed with the statement, which was the same in 2023. 22% disagreed with the statement.
Question 13: To what extent would you agree or disagree that people in this local area pull together to improve things?
48% of people agreed with the statement people in the local area pulled together to improve things. This is slightly down from 50% in 2023.
Question 14: Thinking about your local area, how much of a problem do you think each of the following are…
We gave people a list of issues and asked them how much of a problem they thought they were in their local area. They could choose from a very big or fairly big problem and not a very big problem or not a problem at all.
Below is the list of issues ranked in order that residents felt were the biggest problems in their areas.
- 43% people dealing drugs
- 40% litter
- 26% vandalism, graffiti and deliberate damage to property
- 26% people not treating each other with respect
- 24% groups hanging around on the streets
- 21% people being drunk or rowdy in public places
- 12% noisy neighbours or loud parties
Concern about all the issues listed has decreased slightly from 2023, except for concern about rubbish and litter lying around which remained the same.
Question 15: In the last year, how often have you felt lonely or socially isolated?
18% of people said they felt lonely or isolated often or some of the time during the last 12 months, similar to 2023. 17% said occasionally, 30% said hardly ever and 35% said never.
Question 16: Do you currently volunteer some time to work with others for a community group, local charity or in some other way in your area?
35% of people said they volunteered and 65% said they do not volunteer. There was a small improvement in those who volunteer from 2023.
Question 17. Do you look after or give any help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others because of long term physical or mental ill health or any other condition?
45% of people said they were looking after a family member, friend or neighbour because of a long-term condition, the same as 2023. 55% said no.
Question 18: Please indicate your level of satisfaction for any services you have used or experienced in the last year. If you have not used a service, please choose 'not used'
The table below shows satisfaction rates with a range of Wychavon services in 2024 compared to the last four years.
Council service |
2024 |
2023 |
|
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
|
Parks and open spaces |
91% |
91% |
|
88% |
89% |
91% |
|
Waste and recycling |
93% |
91% |
|
91% |
89% |
91% |
|
Wychavon run sports and leisure facilities |
88% |
87% |
|
89% |
86% |
96% |
|
Worcestershire Regulatory Services |
67% |
72% |
|
70% |
79% |
75% |
|
Community safety |
75% |
75% |
|
66% |
77% |
82% |
|
Council Tax and housing benefits |
72% |
72% |
|
75% |
71% |
78% |
|
Street cleaning |
75% |
74% |
|
73% |
70% |
77% |
|
Housing support services |
61% |
65% |
|
56% |
66% |
63% |
|
Customer contact centres |
70% |
70% |
|
63% |
65% |
87% |
|
Dealing with fly tipping |
65% |
58% |
|
53% |
54% |
67% |
|
Planning and building control |
45% |
43% |
|
39% |
46% |
55% |
|
Overall satisfaction with services is generally the same or with some slight improvements from 2023, except satisfaction with housing support services and Worcestershire Regulatory Services which decreased slightly.
Two additional services were added in the 2024 survey. 82% of people were satisfied with Wychavon’s public toilets and 84% were satisfied with Wychavon District Council managed car parks.
Question 19: How do you rate Wychavon District Council?
57% of people rate Wychavon as good or very good, 32% fair and 11% rated us poor or very poor. There is a slight increase in those who rated Wychavon as good or very good from 2023. Those who rated us poor or very poor remained the same.
Question 20: How do you currently find out about Wychavon district Council and the services it provides?
50% of people said they use the council website to find out about services and look up information, with 39% getting information from printed information provided by the council and 34% from the council magazine. The next main sources of information were 26% by word of mouth, 25% social media sites and blogs and 24% from council texts, emails and e-newsletters.
88% of people said it was very easy or fairly easy to find information on the website and 72% recalled they received the council magazine.
Question 28: During the last 18 months what, if any, form of contact have you had with Wychavon District Council?
The main forms of contact people had with the council were by email (39%) and the website (35%). 16% of people contacted the council by phone. 21% of people said they had no contact with the council.
The main topics people contacted the council for were waste or recycling (22%), planning (22%), voting or elections (15%) and benefits or council tax (13%).
Question 30: Thinking about your most recent contact with Wychavon District Council, to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
We gave people a list of statements and asked them to rate their most recent interaction with the council against each statement. They could choose from definitely agree, tend to agree, or tend to disagree and definitely disagree. Below are the percentages of people who agreed with the statements.
- 78% agree that they received a response within a reasonable timescale
- 82% agree that the information they received was clear and easy to understand
- 75% agree that they were treated fairly and their views listened to
- 79% agree that information on the website was clear and easy to access
- 74% agree that it was explained what can or cannot be delivered
- 54% agree that arrangements were made to meet their needs
Question 31: Importance of ways we can improve our Customer Contact Centres
34% of people said one place for all council enquiries was important. 33% believed knowledgeable and friendly staff would be a benefit, followed by 29% who said it was important to have a town centre location.
The 2024 survey asked questions about food waste, for the reason that from 2026 Wychavon District Council will be required by law to introduce a weekly food waste collection service.
Question 33: How likely are you to use the food waste collection service?
66% of people said they were either very likely or fairly likely to use the food waste collection service.
Question 34: Which of the following would be useful to support your use of the food waste collection service?
44% of people said that free compostable caddy liners provided by the council would support their use of the food waste collection service. 23% of people said it would be helpful to have advice on how to reduce the potential for smells and pest attraction and 18% said they would like a printed service guide and collection calendar.
Question 35: What are the main reasons you are unlikely to use the food waste collection service?
17% of people said they do not waste any / a lot of food. 10% of people said they compost all of their food waste and 10% said they were worried about the smell and attracting pests.
Question 40: How is your health in general? Would you say it is…?
71% of people said their health was good or very good. This has remained similar for the last six years. Just 5% of people felt their health was bad or very bad.
Question 41: Do you have any long-standing health condition or disability that limits your day-to-day activities? (Long-standing means anything that has troubled you over a period of at least 12 months or that is likely to affect you for at least 12 months).
35% of people said their health was limited in some way. This was the same as 2023 and has not changed significantly in the last five years.