As part of the County Council’s vision to make Cambridgeshire greener, fairer and more caring – it launches an annual countywide survey this week, speaking to 5,500 residents to understand their views on the quality of their lives.
The annual survey aims to track the responses over time to see how changes to council decisions and policies – and the work of other public sector bodies in the county - affect people’s views, and to give Members vital insight when they make business planning decisions.
The 15-minute telephone survey – run by an independent market research company Thinks Insight and their partner Team Search - aims to speak to 1,100 people aged 18+ living in each of the five Cambridgeshire district areas – broadly representing each area’s population.
In addition, they will talk to people from specific groups who are less often heard from, including people who may have been homeless or are from migrant or Gypsy/Roma/Traveller communities. The Council is also planning a specific piece of work with younger people via youth engagement teams.
“The results of this survey should give us a quite detailed information about the views of different people living in the county,” said Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, Leader of the Council. “ We are not asking directly about views on any services but our own, but we are asking for people’s perceptions about how the cost of living is affecting them, what they feel about their access to employment and educational opportunities, whether they feel connected to their local community and able to take part in decision making, all of which will be vital information when Members begin discussions in early September on setting future years’ business priorities and budgets.”
“A number of the questions relate to people’s perceptions of their current health and well-being, which is an important part of our public health agenda – so we have been able to combine two annual council surveys to spread the cost,” said Cllr Elisa Meschini. “However, in future years we are also keen to work with other public sector organisations in Cambridgeshire, who may find the results useful for their work. If we can work towards more joined up thinking, we can reduce the number of times residents are approached and make the exercise even more efficient.”
The survey is published on the County Council’s website so anyone who wants to can take part.
Survey activity will continue until August, allowing results to be fed back into the Council’s meetings from September onwards as Members begin to discuss priorities for the years ahead.
If you are approached the market research team’s commissioned service, Team Search will identify themselves as working on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council and will give contact details to allow people to check if they want to. No one will be asked for identifying personal details, or any financial information.
