More than 1,000 residents were surveyed from different areas and communities within Lambeth, to gauge their opinions on a wide range of issues relating to living in the borough and public services.
As well as 72% of residents reporting satisfaction with the way the council performs (an increase for the third year in a row), 92% said they were satisfied with their local area as a place to live (up from 87% a year ago) and 94% agreed that their local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together.
The survey shows that satisfaction with the council has increased markedly in recent years, from 43% in 2010 to 72% today, and that Lambeth now scores above the average satisfaction rate for local authorities across the country.
Cllr Lib Peck, Leader of Lambeth Council, said: “The most important thing to the council is our residents, the motivation behind everything we do is to make their lives better.
“The results of this year’s survey are encouraging – resident satisfaction in the borough is high and getting higher, there is a strong sense of community cohesion and more people think their local area is getting better rather than worse.
“Times are tough for local government at the moment, with huge cuts to our budget, but we are working hard to make sure we can still provide a good service for everybody who lives and works in the borough.
“We won’t take this as sign that our work is done, we are setting new priorities and will keep striving to make our residents even happier.”
The findings of the annual Residents’ Survey have been used to inform the council’s future priorities through the ‘Future Lambeth’ strategy for the borough, and will continue to inform budget setting and further engagement with residents.
Other notable results include:
- Public transport (mentioned by 23%), clean streets (22%) and parks and open spaces (18%) are the aspects seen as most important in making Lambeth a good place to live.
- Clean streets (mentioned by 19%) is also the top priority for improvement (although down from 28% in 2015).
- 37% of residents (down from 45% in 2015) think their local area is a better place to live compared to two years ago, whilst 10% think it has got worse (down from 13% in 2015).
- Brixton neighbourhood residents are the most likely to say that compared to two years ago the local area is better (45%) whilst Norwood residents are less likely to say this (29%).
- Parks and open spaces are the most commonly used service (used by 64%) and more residents use them than in 2015 (49%). Usage of leisure and sports facilities is also up (to 40% from 33%).
- Lambeth is generally seen as a safe place to live. More residents than a year ago feel safe in their area after dark (86% up from 81%) and the proportion feeling unsafe has fallen to 12% from 17%. In addition, now only 2% feel unsafe during the day (down from 4%).
- Rubbish and litter lying around is the most commonly mentioned anti-social behaviour issue, being cited as a problem in their local area by 39% of residents, in line with 2015 (43%).
Read the council report on the Residents’ Survey or view the full Lambeth Residents Survey 2016 report.
If you would like to see other research and analysis about Lambeth and it’s residents please see our Insight Hub.
