For the first time ever, more than half of Islington's residents (57%) think their council is doing a good job.<br><br>Steve Hitchins, Leader of the Council said “We’ve had any number of government inspectors telling us that Islington is an improving council, but residents are the people who really count. It’s great news that the people who live here are saying the same thing: Islington is getting better.”<br><br>That's the message from a survey carried out by an independent market research company in January and February this year.<br><br>The survey results show Islington is bucking the national trend - across the UK, only 18% of people think their local authority is getting better.<br><br>A representative sample of I,000 residents were questioned.<br><br>The survey asked questions on a range of issues and council services and where possible, questions asked in previous Islington surveys were asked to help understand changes in perceptions over time. <br><br>The key findings are:<br><br>57% of residents asked are satisfied with the way the council runs things, an increase of around 10% on the 2003/4 BVPI (Best Value Performance Indicator) survey.<br><br>71% say the council keeps them well informed, an improvement of 26% from when the question was asked in the last ALG survey in 2001/2).<br><br>Satisfaction is high for key environmental services with around two thirds saying they are satisfied with refuse collection, street cleaning and street lighting.<br><br>More residents feel education has improved rather than got worse, particularly users of these services.<br><br>Councillor Steve Hitchins, Leader of Islington Council said:<br><br>"Services in Islington are getting better - the government knows it and now our residents know it.<br><br>But we are not taking a breather. This survey shows us how much further we need to go with our partners to respond to problems residents are most worried about.<br><br>You can't please all of the people all of the time but I know that we can do even better, so that more residents are satisfied with what we do."<br><br>Compared to London as a whole, there was more good news with Islington outperforming The Association of London Government's (ALG's) London-wide averages for responsiveness, involvement and listening to residents.<br><br>The survey aims to provide measurable data on how residents perceive the council in the light of our four strategic priority areas - customer focus, performance improvement, regeneration and environmental sustainability.<br><br>In December 2004, the government's assessment team rated Islington as the fastest improving council in the country.<br><br>ENDS
Page Last Updated: 17 December 2009