Agenda item

The Director of Delivery, Communications and Political Governance submits a report which provides the Overview Select Committee with the details of, and some initial insights from, the recent Survey of Leicester. The report also introduces the survey, its scope, and how data from the survey could be used to inform work across the organisation.

The Overview Select Committee is recommended to note the completion the Survey of Leicester, and to consider how survey data could inform the work of Leicester’s scrutiny commissions.

The City Mayor introduced the item on the Survey of Leicester and noted that the last survey of this type conducted in-house with a similar breadth of topics and provided a wonderful snapshot of the city.

It was also noted that new information from the Census report was emerging and was being analysed. The survey was a useful supplement to the census because it provided information on topics not covered by the census and can be analysed in greater depth as the council owns the record-level data. Data from the latest Census report suggested that the city had an 11.8% increase in population in the last decade, which was above the England increase of 6.6%.

The Corporate Data Consultant delivered a presentation providing the Committee with an overview on the Survey of Leicester.

As part of the discussions, it was noted that:

·         The scope of the work carried out so far in the report was not the definitive or final version, comments raised by Members of the Committee can be included when producing the final report

·         The cost of Council Tax was included within the utilities section

·         There were real concerns that 10% of people reported on loneliness and Members of the Committee requested that the findings of the survey be taken seriously to ensure best service to the people of the city

·         The findings suggested that there were people who did not have digital access or digital literacy, as a council it was important on how to alleviate this issue and to consider this as a guide for the authority to understand on how to best communicate with the people of Leicester

·         Members of the Committee were reassured that public services were open to those groups that indicated in the survey they felt excluded from public services, but it was noted that it was vital that the authority understood the reasons as to why people felt isolated and both the positive and negative points in the findings of the survey be recognised

·         The Chair of the committee suggested it was important for each of the Scrutiny Commissions to consider this survey on their work programmes and prompt debate at each of their individual Commissions areas

·         Members of the Commission thanked Officers for the survey that provided vital information that can provide the grounds for in depth scrutiny

·         It was suggested that although resolving the issues raised by the findings would take time, it gave the authority information to adapt policies in accordance with the findings of the survey

In further discussions it was noted that the figures on deprivation were high, and this survey was conducted before the cost-of-living crisis. It was suggested that comparisons to other similar cities and links between topics would be beneficial to further understand the information and that the information derived from the survey could help the future shape of the city.

AGREED:

1)    That each individual Scrutiny Commission be recommended to look into the survey in more detail and:

2)    That the Officers be thanked for providing the Committee with the presentation of the survey.