Research for Exeter City Council on future of Local Government
As part of its consultations on the future of local government in Exeter, Exeter City Council commissioned Ipsos to undertake a telephone survey involving a cross-section of residents living in Exeter and its surrounding areas.160
The main objective of this research was to inform Exeter City Council as they consider the proposals identified in a recent report from the Boundary Committee (released on 7th July). Consultation with local residents in Exeter, Exmouth and the surrounding areas was needed to `test' local reactions and gain greater understanding of the needs and issues which might inform counter-proposals and designs. These are issues which will inform Exeter City Council's response to the Boundary Committee.
In drafting the questionnaire, we have built on our extensive experience in working with local authorities and independent organisations reviewing local government structure - the Local Government Commission for England and the Boundary Committee for England (part of the Electoral Commission). In most instances, we have repeated questions used previously by Ipsos in research of this nature.
Feelings of belonging strong with Devon and locality
The great majority of residents in the proposed Exeter/Exmouth Unitary Authority area feel very or fairly strongly that they belong to Devon, with similarly strong feelings of belonging to their neighbourhood or village, and to a lesser extent Exeter.
Impact on services and accountability key factors
The key factors identified by residents for deciding the future of local government in Devon are impact on services and the accountability of the new administration(s) to the local population. The quality of services, accountability to local people, the cost of services and the level of council tax are the factors most commonly identified as being the most important.
Residents prefer the Exeter/Exmouth proposal
When asked to choose between the proposals for new Unitary Authorities in Devon, the majority (61%) of residents in the proposed Exeter/Exmouth Unitary Authority area prefer the option of a single council for their area with another single council for the rest of Devon. The proposal for a single council for the whole of Devon is preferred by 27% of residents. One in eight (12%) didn't know or refused to choose.
Technical Note
Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,000 residents (aged 18+) across the proposed Exeter/Exmouth Unitary Authority area (including the City of Exeter plus parts of the East Devon and Teignbridge districts). Interviews were carried out by telephone, between 14 and 31 August 2008, using a randomly-selected sample of numbers from across the proposed area.
During the fieldwork, quotas were set by age, gender, and working status to ensure a representative sample of residents. The data are subsequently weighted by these factors to match the 2001 census profile of the area as a whole.
