Key Findings from the 2008/9 Place Survey

Purpose of the Place Survey  Captures local people’s views, experiences and perceptions about the local area and public services  Tracks people’s changing perceptions over time  Measures 18 of the citizen perspective national indicators  Improve outcomes for local people

Place Survey - methodology  Postal survey of 4019 randomly selected addresses from Post Office small users address file (PAF)  Questionnaires mailed out October to December 2008  Data weighted by AC for sex, age and ethnicity to known profile of the city and adjusted for household size  Results are based on 1520 completed questionnaires, a response rate of 38%

Local Area  Four in five (80%) satisfied with their local area as a place to live (NI 5). This is above the Tyne and Wear average (78%) and 2006/7 BVPI Survey (76%)  12% considered local area getting better and 15% getting worse a reduction from a quarter in 2006/7 BVPI survey  86% satisfied with their home as a place to live and 8% dissatisfied. Tyne and Wear average 87% satisfied and 7% dissatisfied  Two thirds satisfied with choice of housing in local area and 14% dissatisfied

Quality of Life priorities

Quality of Life  80% were satisfied with their life as a whole nowadays and 8% were dissatisfied  42% agreed and 16% disagreed that local public services are doing more these days to help people lead healthier lives  72% thought their health was good/very good and 6% thought it was bad/very bad

Anti-social behaviours a problem

Respect and Consideration  Over a third, 36% considered there was to some extent/a great deal, a problem with people not treating one another with respect and consideration(NI 23) compared with 53% in 2006/7  32% agreed and 50% disagreed that in the local area parents take enough responsibility for their children. (Tyne and Wear average 27% agreed)  75% considered they were treated with respect most/all of the time by local public services and only 5% said rarely/never

Feeling safe

Dealing with anti-social behaviour  28% agree and 29% disagree that the police and other public services seek people’s views about these issues in local area (Tyne and Wear average 30%)  30% agree and 20% disagree that the police and other public services are successfully dealing with these issues (Tyne and Wear average 31%)

Community Cohesion  73% agree local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well (NI 1 LAA) compared to 76% 2006/7 BVPI Survey  49% of residents feel that they belong to their neighbourhood (NI 2) which is well below the Tyne and Wear average of 60%

Information and decision making  32% considered they can influence decision making locally (NI 4) compared to 39% 2006/7 BVPI Survey  A quarter would like to be more involved in decision making whilst 63% stated it depended on the issue  42% felt informed about local public services and 58% not very well/not at all informed

Views about Local Public Services

Informed about local public services  43% informed about the standard of service to expect, 57% not informed  42% informed about performance, 58% not informed  37% informed about how to complain, 63% not informed  20% informed about what to do in the event of a large scale emergency, 65% not informed

Local Public Services - satisfaction

Newcastle compared with Tyne and Wear  Newcastle performing well compared to Tyne and Wear overall. Above average on 10 of the 18 national indicators and highest on six indicators  Newcastle above the Tyne and Wear average in relation to able to influence decisions locally, the proportion who volunteer satisfaction with local area and overall health and well being  Newcastle is below average in relation to people feeling they belong to neighbourhood and support for elderly people

Key messages (1)  Improved perceptions about crime and anti-social behaviour but level of crime remains most important in making somewhere a good place to live, followed by keeping the streets clean  Activities for teenagers considered most in need of improving closely followed by road and pavement maintenance and traffic congestion

Key messages (2)  Rating of the local area is positive and improving  Public services viewed fairly positive in comparison to elsewhere However……  Feeling informed, influencing decisions, seeking out views and acting on concerns, clearly scope for improvement  Need to keep an eye on drunk and rowdy behaviour being a problem where limited change evident compared to 2006/7 but drop in other anti-social behaviours considered a problem