Perceptions of local councils

Survey respondents were asked to agree or disagree with various statements about how their local council is performing. In 2023, 42% of respondents agreed that their local council provides high quality services (5.8% strongly agree; 37% somewhat agree) whereas 29% disagreed.

When asked if their local council does the best it can with the money available, 42% of respondents agreed, compared to 29% who disagreed (11% strongly disagree; 18% somewhat disagree).

Approximately 37% of respondents agreed that their local council is good at letting people know about what services it provides, a statistically significant increase from 35% in 2022. However, 20% somewhat disagreed and a further 12% strongly disagreed with this statement.

Just under a third of respondents (30%) agreed that their council is good at letting people know how well it is performing, which is a statistically significant increase from 27% in 2022. A further 22% of respondents somewhat disagreed with this statement and 13% strongly disagreed.  

In 2023, approximately one third of respondents (31%) agreed that their local council designs its services around the needs of the people who use them. 30% of respondents disagreed with this statement (Table 2).

Figure 1: Two fifths of respondents agreed that their local council provides high quality services and does the best it can with the money available.

Percentage of adults agreeing with various statements about their local council

Perceptions of local councils by age, sex, and deprivation

Respondents aged 16 to 24 were less likely than adults aged 75 and over to agree that their local council does the best it can with the money available (36% compared to 51%); that their local council is addressing the key issues affecting the quality of life in their neighbourhood (30% compared to 40%); and that their local council is good at letting people know how well it is performing (22% compared to 33%) (Table 3).

Adults from the least deprived and most deprived areas had differing views on whether their local council addresses the key issues affecting quality of life in their local neighbourhood. Just over a third (35%) of adults from the 20% least deprived areas agreed to this, while 28% of adults from the 20% most deprived areas agreed to this (Table 5). 

Women were less likely than men to agree that their local council does the best it can with the money available (41% compared to 43%) and that their local council is addressing the key issues affecting the quality of life in their neighbourhood (31% compared to 34%) (Table 7).

Influence over decisions in local area

Over half the respondents (52%) disagreed that they can influence decisions affecting their local area (21% strongly disagree; 31% somewhat disagree). Approximately 18% agreed that they can influence local decisions, which remains unchanged since 2022.

Just under a third of respondents (30%) agreed that they would like to be more involved in the decisions their council makes that affect their local area, a statistically significant decrease from 33% in 2022. Whereas 47% of respondents reported that they would not like to be more involved (23% strongly disagree; 24% somewhat disagree) (Table 2). 

Respondents aged 16 to 24 were more likely to want to be involved in decisions affecting their local area (26%) compared to respondents aged 75 and over (17%) (Table 3). 

Adults from the 20% least deprived  areas were the most likely of all SIMD quintiles to want to be more involved in the decisions their council make (38%) (Table 5).

Figure 2: Just over half the respondents felt that they can influnce decisions affecting their local area.

Percentage of adults agreeing with various statements about their local council