Council Services
Panel members were asked to consider a range of services currently provided by the council and to say firstly how important they feel it is that the council provide these services, and then to say how satisfied they are with the provision of each service.
Whilst all the services listed were considered important to some degree by the vast majority of respondents, school education emerged as the most important, with 65% rating this as 'essential'. At the other end, only 14% believe that the provision of 'information and services to promote good health' is an essential function of the council. (Table 1)
There is a suggestion that the public is less satisfied with the council's performance on some of the areas of service which are considered to be high priorities by the public, than they are with those of lesser importance. For example, whilst maintenance of roads appears at number 3 in the list of priorities, only 54% express satisfaction with this service - 7% being 'very satisfied'. On the other hand, whilst 95% of those with an opinion of Trading Standards were satisfied with the service, this appears low down on the list of priorities. (Table 2)
More than three-quarters of panel members agree that North Lincolnshire Council provides good quality services overall, though only 10% strongly agree. (Table 4)
Only 9% believe that the council keeps residents very well informed about the benefits and services it provides, with a further 56% feeling fairly well informed. (Table 5)
Council Tax
Around a third of panel members agree that the level of council tax they pay provides value for money. A quarter tend to disagree with this premise, and 17% strongly disagree. Those in rural areas are more likely to disagree than are urban residents. (Tables 6 & 7)
Few were in favour of the idea of increasing council tax next year by more than the cost of living (8%), though almost half felt that it should rise by the cost of living (45%) or lower (5%). (Table 8).
Contacting Local Councillor
Overall, 44% of panel members claim to know the name of their local councillor/s.
Older panel members, and those living in rural areas are much more likely to know who their councillors are and to have contacted them in the past. (Tables 9 &10).
Museums
Five options were presented to panel members for methods of improving public access to collections held in museums, and there was a substantial level of interest expressed in each. (Tables 11&12).
Priorities for Education
Of the seven key aims of the council's Education Development Plan, raising standards of both literacy and mathematics were jointly rated of the highest importance, with 94% of panel members giving a rating of between 10 and 8 on each issue (10 being the highest possible rating).
Four of the other key priorities received similarly high ratings from between 82% and 88% of respondents.
The lowest rating was for 'Improving leadership and management in schools', with 72% rating this in the 10 to 8 range. (Table 13)
Policing
When presented with five methods by which the police in North Lincolnshire could provide reassurance to the public, more than half selected 'having a visible police presence on the streets' as being the most important way in which this could be achieved (56%).' An efficient and courteous response when you telephone the police' was at the bottom of the list with only 4% feeling this to be the most important factor in public reassurance. (Table 14)
Panel members were then presented with five ways in which the police could provide satisfaction when dealing with a reported crime. In 39% of cases the respondent felt that 'a suitable punishment for the offender' would provide most satisfaction, whilst 26% cited 'apprehending the offender'.
The three remaining factors all related to the way in which the police interact with the person reporting the crime, and in total around a third of panel members selected one of these three options. (Table 15)
There are mixed feelings about the image the media portrays. Whilst 22% say that press reports frequently reassure them that the police are performing well, 19% say that frequently reports concern them that the police are NOT performing well.
Around a third of panel members claim that media reports frequently make them wonder if they are getting the true picture, and 27% say that they never feel reassured that they are really finding out what is happening.
A significant group also believe that reports frequently raise other questions about law and order generally (29%). (Table 16).