Concern over low response rate to ‘Big Notts Survey’

Concerns have been raised about Nottinghamshire Council’s ‘Big Notts Survey’ after 7,000 responses were received from hundreds of thousands of requests.
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It comes despite thousands of pounds being spent on what the authority described as its “biggest ever survey”.

Council figures show the survey received 6,136 responses between August 23 and its launch three weeks earlier.

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This number has since increased to ‘more than 7,000’, the council’s leader confirmed at Thursday’s policy committee meeting.

Nottinghamshire Council is currently surveying its residents.Nottinghamshire Council is currently surveying its residents.
Nottinghamshire Council is currently surveying its residents.

It is described as the ‘highest number of engagements’ from any survey conducted by the authority – but falls far short of the authority’s consultation targets.

The survey, which closes on September 19, has been sent to hundreds of thousands of homes, asking residents their views on numerous issues before responses drive the council’s emerging 10-year plan.

Adverts have also been taken out online, and the survey amounts to an overall cost of £50,000 to the taxpayer.

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Coun Jason Zadrozny, member for Ashfields, who sits on the policy committee, described the survey as a ‘missed opportunity’.

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‘Two-way conversation’

Coun Zadrozny, whose Ashfield Council received more than 11,000 responses for its Towns Fund consultation, said: “Looking at it, this £50,000 cost is roughly £8 per response.

“The report says this 6,136 is a ‘strong appetite’ from residents – but I’m not sure 0.7 per cent [of the population] is a strong appetite.

“I don’t want to talk it down, but I think this is so important. It’s such a missed opportunity, because it could have been significantly better.

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“I’ll be amazed if we get to 10,000, it might well be the best the county has ever done, but it doesn’t mean that’s good enough.”

The survey is asking residents questions on a range of issues, including Covid recovery, the biggest issues in their area, and their aspirations for the future.

Coun Ben Bradley, council leader and member for Mansfield North, told the meeting he is ‘optimistic’ more responses will arrive before the September 19 deadline.

He said: “I’ve asked for this to be the start of an ongoing, two-way conversation with residents, and we’re going back to those residents and telling them what we’re doing.”

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The survey can be accessed on the council’s website and social media pages, as well as in libraries across the county.

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