Boroughs in tune with the people of London

Londoners are generally satisfied with the services they receive from their local authority, and the authorities in turn are delivering on the "quality of life" issues that concern Londoners. These are the key findings of a new opinion survey released by the Association of London Government (ALG).

The Survey of Londoners, an annual exercise carried out on behalf of London's 33 borough councils, shows that 62 per cent of Londoners believe that their council is doing a good job. Some 69 per cent of respondents believe that council staff are friendly and 58 per cent say that their council is making the area a better place to live.

Specific council services rated highly include refuse collection (68 per cent say it is good or excellent), libraries (57 per cent) and street cleaning (56 per cent). Repair of roads and pavements attract the most negative comments, with 40 per cent saying they are poor or extremely poor. Users of specific services generally rate services higher than those who do not use them.

The survey's publication follows December's financial settlement for the capital's local authorities for the 2003/04 financial year. This saw the London region as a whole receive the second-lowest grant increase in England, after the South East region.

The ALG is concerned that the settlement will hit the boroughs' ability to deliver on the quality of life issues that concern Londoners, because so much of the financial cake is already allocated to fund specific services such as education.

Boroughs are calling on the Government to provide them with the money they need to be able to deliver on these issues, including the environment, cleaner streets, graffiti and abandoned cars.

Chair of the ALG, Sir Robin Wales, said: "The survey's results provide a clear indication that boroughs share the same concerns as their residents and are working hard to improve the quality of life for every member of the community.

"However our future efforts could now be severely hampered following the disappointing finance settlement for the capital, which will leave boroughs facing some very tough decisions on the levels of services they are able to provide.

"Boroughs are committed to enhancing the life of all Londoners but we need adequate funding to provide services to deal with their concerns. Without the proper levels of Government's support, it becomes harder for us to deliver to our communities the services demand."

The Londoners' survey, now in its 13th year, also tests Londoners' main concerns overall. Fear of crime (50 per cent), the health service (31 per cent) and traffic congestion (26 per cent) came out as the top three issues of concern.

Affordable housing was the issue that has increased most as a concern of Londoners compared to the previous year. Some 20 per cent named affordable housing as a problem, up 6 per cent on 2001.

The Survey of Londoners comes soon after local government watchdog the Audit Commission published its Comprehensive Performance Assessments (CPAs) of local authorities.

The CPAs measured all local authorities' performances in a league table format. London boroughs overall performed better than average, with eight authorities deemed "excellent" by the Commission. However, it also showed four boroughs in a "poor" category.

Councils will be using the CPA results to ensure that their services continue to develop and improve. One way this can be done is by authorities teaming up and learning from each other.

Ends

Notes to editors

The ALG is committed to fighting for more resources for the capital and getting the best possible deal for London's 33 councils. Part think-tank and part lobbying organisation, we also run a range of services designed to make life better for Londoners.

The ALG commissioned market research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres to conduct the annual survey of Londoners to find out views on a wide range of issues. Some 1,027 people were interviewed from 14-27 October 2002, with a representative cross-section of the population interviewed, based on the 1991 census figures.

 The issues of most concern were compiled from Londoners rating their top three main concerns overall. The survey and the CPA recommendations will play a key role in helping boroughs to improve from where they are now and to learn from each other.

The ALG and the boroughs have a number of schemes in place to tackle these issues and enhance the quality of life for all residents, including work on crime reduction, environmental improvements, affordable housing and education.

Survey of Londoners - summary of findings
Issues of concern

· As in previous years, the two major issues of concern to Londoners are crime and the health service. Traffic congestion (26 per cent) and litter are the next highest concerns.

· Concern about crime continues to increase. It has increased by 18 per cent over the past four years.

· Concern about health has fallen 6 per cent this year.

Image of councils
· Some 62 per cent of Londoners say their council is doing a good job. Ratings have returned to levels reported in 1990.

· In last year's survey the image rating of London councils was high. This year it has returned to levels reported in 1990. Long-term trends for good job rating, efficiency and value for money indicators show a steady decline following the high point in 1995/96.

Services

· There are a number of changes in perception since 2001. The main changes are in policing (down 7 per cent), street cleaning (down 6 per cent), secondary education (down 6 per cent), adult education (down 5 per cent), social services (down 4 per cent) and council housing (down 3 per cent).

· The ratings for nursery education have increased among users of the service, which this year has increased by 14 per cent.

Whilst it appears that ratings of many image dimensions have fallen since 2001, this is a result of unusually high ratings last year.

At the time, it was reported that one of the factors that may have had an impact on the results was the military action in Afghanistan taking place during the fieldwork period in 2001. This year ratings have returned to 2000 levels.

A copy of the results of the survey can be found by clicking here http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/doc.asp?docId=8109

Any member of the media wanting more infromation should contact Stewart Henderson on 0207 934 9620 or by emailing him at Stewart.Henderson@londoncouncils.gov.uk.