1. Overall questions, results and feedback
We are extremely grateful to the 772 residents who responded to this survey. This compares to 774 in 2014.
- 66% are satisfied overall with the way EDDC runs things – 10% were dissatisfied.* This compares to 71% in 2014.
- 74% feel that East Devon District Council keeps them informed about the services it provides - 26% do not. This compares with 79% in 2014.
- 67% feel that the Council provides value for money – 10% disagreed. This compares with 66% in 2014.
- 56% responded that the Council acts on what residents’ say – 44% disagreed. This compares with 53% in 2014.
- 51% responded that the Council acts quickly – 11% disagreed. This compares with 56% in 2014.
- 42% would speak positively about the Council – 18% would not. This compares with 44% in 2014.
*Where scores do not add up to 100 this is because people did not express a view either way.
Like other recent surveys, the Viewpoint Survey reinforces the fact most people would prefer to contact us by phone or through our website rather than visit our offices. 84% of people who have used our website in the last 6 months were satisfied with it.
In relation to the above results, where residents responded negatively we asked them to tell us why.
- 20 residents said that the Council should listen to what local residents say.
- 9 residents expressed concern about plans for Exmouth seafront and 4 said that more consultation is needed.
We asked residents to give us examples on where they think we do not act on what residents say:
- 48 residents gave the example of Exmouth seafront. 10 residents commented on turning Elizabeth Hall in Exmouth into a Premier Inn.
- 42 residents said we don’t listen to residents or Parish/Town councils on planning matters.
- 25 residents commented that some residents don’t want to see EDDC move from Knowle.
Our response:
Resident comments through this survey and experience/ learning through regeneration and change projects show that building consensus in communities in this area is an extremely difficult task. There are always many competing views and this is an area where the Council is working hard to improve.
Whilst we can never hope to please all the people all the time, we do know that a great deal of engagement, consultation and communication is vital where we are dealing with complex change and regeneration projects. These matters require strong community leadership and for that reason, this Council is absolutely committed to improving in this area. This means we will ensure that there are robust plans in place to maximise opportunities for communities to have a say in the work we do when dealing with regeneration and complex change projects.
- 11 residents commented that issues have taken too long to resolve.
Our response:
We have a clear and comprehensive complaints procedure and this year have recruited a full time officer to help deal with freedom of information requests and complaints where they occur. We will continue to do our best in resolving issues quickly where they arise.