Place Survey

What is the Place Survey?

The Place Survey is used to measure how residents experience life in Islington, what they think about Islington the place, and their satisfaction with a range of local public services. The first Place Survey took place in Autumn 2008, and will happen every two years.

All councils must carry out a Place Survey in their area. The survey provides information for 18 of the national performance indicators that all local councils are measured against. It also collects information on many other issues and local concerns. In addition to the ‘statutory’ questions a limited number of ‘additional’ questions can be included in the Place Survey questionnaire.

The survey is a postal survey of a random sample of addresses in each council area, and in order to ensure the results are reliable at least 1,100 questionnaires must be completed. The results are weighted to best reflect the profile of the population in each council area
Islington Place Survey 2008

The Place Survey was conducted in Islington between 8 October and 19 December 2008. A total of 1,542 questionnaires were returned.

The same questions were asked in every local authority in England. This means that it is possible to compare levels of satisfaction and peoples' opinions of their council in other areas, including all other London boroughs.

The questions asked range from those about residents’ opinions of their local area and their neighbourhood, to satisfaction with local information about public services and chances to get involved in local decision-making. Questions were also be asked about satisfaction with local services including:

• council services
• policing
• GPs
• hospitals
• dentists
• public transport
• local fire and rescue service

The full set of questions can be seen in the Islington questionnaire available for downloading at the bottom of this page.

Results

Some of the selected highlights about Islington ‘the place’ are:

• Nearly four fifths (77%) of Islington residents are satisfied (or very satisfied) with their local area as a place to live.
• Half of Islington residents (51%) said they feel they belong to their local area
• One in four people (23%) undertake voluntary work at least once a month.
• Four fifths (79%) of residents think that people from different backgrounds get on well together.
• Nearly half of Islington residents (49%) are satisfied (or very satisfied) with the way Islngton Council runs things – which is higher than the national average of 45%.
• Nearly nine in ten residents (87%) feel safe out and about in their lcoal area during the day and just under half (46%) feel safe outside after dark.

The final published results can be downloaded below. These were published in June 2009 by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), which is responsible for the Place Survey across the country. Data has not been published nationally for each question that was included in the Place Survey, though it does include all the national indicators and other key data.

The 17 national indicators are also available for download below. The full national data set, including the Islington data, can be downloaded (in Excel format) at http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/placesurvey2008.

Further Information

For more information about the Place Survey in Islington contact Alistair Smith, Corporate Consultation and Research Manager at consultation@islington.gov.uk

For general information about the Place Survey, see the Place Survey 2008-09 Technical Manual.