Residents’ Survey 2025

We carried out our annual Wychavon Residents’ Survey from 10 October to 9 November 2025.

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.

There were 2,027 responses in total, compared to 1,458 in 2024*. The range of responses from all age categories was similar to those in 2024, 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.

Thank you for your responses, they help us to improve our services and the way we communicate with you. Four respondents were drawn at random and received a £100 voucher to spend with a local business of their choice as a thank you for taking part.

If you would like to take part in next year’s survey or hear about other opportunities to engage with us sign-up to receive our consultations emails.

*Based on the survey response rate, the confidence level for the results overall is 2.16%. This means where results are directly comparable to previous years only changes of 2.16 percentage points or more can be considered as statistically significant. Where individual questions have smaller response rates the confidence level is likely to be higher

About your local area and public services

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?

80% of people said they were either very satisfied or fairly satisfied, this was a slight decrease from 2024. 12% 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?

64% of people were either very satisfied or fairly satisfied, down from 72% in 2024, but the same as in 2023. Those that were dissatisfied increased to 18% from 13%.

Question 4: To what extent do you agree or disagree that Wychavon District Council provides value for money?

51% of people agreed with the statement Wychavon District Council provides value for money, a slight decrease from 2024, although the same as in 2023. 21% 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?

60% of people agreed either a great deal or a fair amount with the statement Wychavon acted on the concerns of local residents. This is slightly lower than the 64% result in 2024, although similar to 61% in 2023.

Question 6: Overall, how well informed do you think Wychavon District Council keeps residents about the services it provides?

72% of people said they felt well informed by us and 28% not well informed, a decrease from 2024 (75%).

Question 7: Do you agree or disagree that you can influence decisions affecting your local area?

37% of people agreed with the statement they could influence decisions in their local area, with 63% disagreeing. This is a decrease on 2024, however it is an increase 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.

• 61% said input from residents was not taken into account (up from 45% in 2024).
• 22% said they were unaware of any means of influencing decisions (down from 23% in 2023).
• 17% of people gave various other reasons.

Question 9: How strongly do you feel you belong to your local area?

78% of people feel that they belong to their local area. This is the same as 2024, with the proportion remaining somewhere between 72% and 76% for the previous six years. 22% said they felt not very or not at all strongly connected to their local area.

Respect, consideration and community safety

Question 10: How safe or unsafe do you feel when outside in your local area after dark?

62% of people said they felt safe in their local area after dark. This is down from 2024, although an improvement on the previous two years. 21% 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?

88% of people said they felt safe in their local area during the day, slightly down from 2024. 8% 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?

68% of people agreed with the statement, slightly down from 2024. 26% 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?

53% of people agreed with the statement that people in the local area pulled together to improve things. This is an improvement from 50% in 2024.

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.

• 46% people dealing drugs
• 41% litter
• 29% vandalism, graffiti and deliberate damage to property
• 28% people not treating each other with respect
• 26% groups hanging around on the streets
• 21% people being drunk or rowdy in public places
• 11% noisy neighbours or loud parties

Concern about the issues listed has remained the same from 2024, except for concern about drugs, vandalism, and groups hanging around which have slightly increased.

Connect communities

Question 15: In the last year, how often have you felt lonely or socially isolated?

16% of people said they felt lonely or isolated often or some of the time during the last 12 months, similar to 2024. 17% said occasionally, 33% said hardly ever and 34% 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?

37% of people said they volunteered and 63% said they do not volunteer. There was a small increase in those who volunteer from 2024.

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?

46% of people said they were looking after a family member, friend or neighbour because of a long-term condition, the same as 2024. 54% said no.

Council services

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 2025

Overall satisfaction with services is generally the same or has slightly improved from 2024, except satisfaction with dealing with fly tipping which decreased slightly.

Satisfaction with street cleaning and planning and building control were significantly lower than in 2024.

86% of people were satisfied with Wychavon’s public toilets, an increase from 2024 and 82% were satisfied with Wychavon District Council managed car parks, a slight decrease from 2024.

Question 20: How do you rate Wychavon District Council?

56% of people rate Wychavon as good or very good, 32% fair and 12% rated us poor or very poor. This is the same as those who rated Wychavon as good or very good in 2024.

About you

Question 40: How is your health in general? Would you say it is…?

72% of people said their health was good or very good. This has remained similar for the last five years. Just 6% 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).

38% of people said their health was limited in some way. This was similar to 2024 and has not changed significantly in the last five years.