Stoke-on-Trent city governance options

Stoke-on-Trent City Council's current system of governance - elected mayor and council manager - must be replaced in 2009 because of changes in the law relating to council management in England and Wales.

The Council is now consulting with residents on which of the following options they prefer :

*183160160160160160 A directly elected mayor who appoints his/her Cabinet of councillors

*183160160160160160 A council leader, chosen by his/her fellow councillors who then appoints his/her Cabinet of councillors.

To many people this will be a fine distinction, but the Council must consider the views of the public in making its decision on the way forward in September. As part of this process the Council is currently undertaking a major public consultation exercise to inform, and to seek views. This process includes a mail out/response pro forma sent to all 113,000 households in the area, adverts in the press, radio and elsewhere. This ended on August 8.

The objective of this separate survey is to :

*183160160160160160 Assess the level of awareness of the issue

*183160160160160160 And gauge support for the options.

At the sample size chosen - 500 interviews - this survey is not definitive : it seeks solely to help the Council in its decision-making.

160Key Findings

Council Governance

• 53% of respondents claim some degree of interest in local Council matters (14% very interested, 39% fairly interested)
• 36% of respondents are satisfied with the way the council governs itself at the moment : 41% are dissatisfied. A fifth (22%) are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

The Campaign

• 39% of respondents were aware of any proposal to change the way the Council governs itself
• 45% claim to have received the Our City Our Future brochure
• 72% claim to know that the Council is currently run by an elected mayor and council Manager
• 38% did not know that the Lord Mayor and the elected mayor are not the same person

The Preference

160When asked to choose :

• 57% prefer an elected mayor, directly elected by the people of Stoke-on-Trent
• 30% prefer a Council Leader chosen by the Council.

Download the topline findings Download the tables

Technical Note

A telephone survey, using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) was carried out amongst a sample of 500 adult residents (16+) of Stoke-on-Trent spread across the city. Quotas were set on age and gender, and the final data was balanced with reference to 2006 Census updated data, to produce a representative sample. Fieldwork took place over the period 11-14 August 2008.