Citizens' Panel results show residents satisfied with East Renfrewshire as a place to live
East Renfrewshire residents have shown their satisfaction with the area in the results of the latest Citizens' Panel survey.
Published: 3 April 2023
Survey findings show high levels of satisfaction with East Renfrewshire as a place to live, with 85% of the Panel responding in this way.
The East Renfrewshire Citizens' Panel is made up of a representative sample of 1,000 residents and continues to provide a means for local people to give their views. The latest report sets out findings from the most recent Citizens' Panel survey, conducted in autumn 2022.
The survey sought Panel members' views on Council services, the cost of living, climate change, active communities and digital inclusion, with 61% of members engaging and sharing their views. Additional research was conducted at focus group interviews.
The majority of respondents, 63%, indicated that they are satisfied with Council services overall, which is similar to the levels seen within other local authorities. 59% of respondents generally felt that there has been no recent change in the standard of Council services.
Residents were most positive about education, libraries, recycling, bin collection, public parks and open spaces, and least positive about the area's roads.
An impressive 93% rated the secondary schools positively, 91% rated primary schools favourably and 88% for nursery education. Our wheeled bin collection was rated as good by 83% of respondents, while there were also positive ratings for libraries (92%), public parks (86%) and recycling (83%).
To specifically target residential road upgrades, which has regularly been highlighted as an area of importance for residents, we've committed an additional £15m capital investment for roads infrastructure over the following five years in its 2019/20 budget. This will continue in 2023/24, after an additional £3million of resources was committed to the roads maintenance programme to continue to invest in road and pavement resurfacing in residential streets across the area.
Councillor Andrew Anderson, Deputy Leader of East Renfrewshire Council said: 'It is pleasing that the majority of our residents are satisfied with East Renfrewshire as a place to live. Nationally, all local authorities are dealing with tough budget challenges and the impact of the continued increase of cost of living. Despite all of this, departments are performing well across the board and most respondents feel that the Council and employees represent the Council's values - this is commendable to all of our staff who work hard on a daily basis. Our priorities will be to continue to support the most vulnerable in our communities, with projects such as our £4.4m cost of living recovery plan being extended into next winter. The Council remains determined to support our communities through these uncertain times.'
The overall ranking of Council services has remained broadly consistent, with education, libraries, and parks and open spaces amongst the top-rated services for a number of years.
Most respondents also felt that the Council and its employees represent the three Council values - "ambition", "kindness" and "trust" to some extent. This was particularly the case for "kindness" (61%). In addition, residents thought the Council and its staff were professional (69%), reputable (63%), worked in partnership (63%) and helpful (61%).
