ONLY 11 per cent of Waverley residents can correctly name their borough councillor, according to a postal survey of 2,500 random addresses carried out on behalf of Waverley Borough Council. The survey was devised to cover four key areas: customer service, the internet/council website, making payments and overall satisfaction with the council. Forty-six per cent of those approached filled in their questionnaire, the results revealing that one in seven had had cause to complain to the council over the previous 12 months. Heading the subject of complaints by a fair margin was the refuse collection service, followed by house repairs, recycling, street cleaning, planning applications and decisions and problems with neighbours. The handling of complaints itself had apparently given rise to further annoyance, with around half of those concerned dissatisfied with the way the complaint was handled and 59 per cent dissatisfied with the outcome. Councillors were approached most frequently about planning matters, and scored rather better than the council overall. Six out of 10 residents were satisfied with the outcome of their contact, and three out of 10 were not happy. The responses revealed high satisfaction with the services provided by the council's locality offices and a good rating for its website. The majority of those who contacted the council by phone and email gave the stamp of approval to the service they received. But overall, only 61 per cent of residents were satisfied with the way the authority runs things - a slight improvement on the 59 per cent from a survey carried out in 2003. Asked whether council services in certain areas had got better or worse over the last five years, the majority opinion was that there has been no change for most of the services listed. However, there was a thumbs-up for local recycling facilities, which 43 per cent of people thought had got better; doorstep recycling, which 51 per cent thought had improved; and community centres, judged better by around a quarter. Opinion was divided over household waste collection, with 21 per cent registering an improvement and 20 per cent claiming it was being handled worse. The biggest area for criticism was public conveniences, said to have deteriorated by 52 per cent of those with an opinion. Also registering significant disapproval were building control (37 per cent), environmental health services (31 per cent), homelessness and housing advice (31 per cent), council- run car parks (26 per cent), and the council's performance in keeping streets and open spaces litter free (28 per cent). Results of the survey are to be considered in some detail at the next meeting of Waverley's corporate overview and scrutiny committee.
