Aims of the survey
We wanted to know what Residents' Panel members thought about our highways service and how it should be developed in the future.
We also asked our panel for their thoughts about the priorities for keeping people safe where they live and throughout East Sussex.
Who took part
We surveyed our Residents' Panel, a broadly representative cross-section of people around the county. The survey was carried out by post and online.
The consultation took place from Friday 10 July 2009 to Friday 21 August 2009 and we received just over 1,300 responses, an excellent response rate of 69%.
What you told us
- Highways service – satisfaction with our highways service has improved in some areas but decreased in others.
- Road safety – improving road safety is important to our panel members.
- Feeling safe – 91% of panel members feel safe outside in their local area during the day and 65% feel safe outside after dark.
- The four biggest problems you identified in your local areas are:
- rubbish and litter lying around
- teenagers hanging around on the streets
- vandalism, graffiti and other deliberate damage to property or vehicles
- people being drunk or rowdy in public places.
- The three most important types of crime you would like tackled in your local area are:
- anti-social behaviour
- burglary
- car crime.
- The three most important types of anti-social behaviour you would like tackled are:
- alcohol related anti-social behaviour
- anti-social driving
- dog fouling.
- Media impact – the media had a greater negative than positive influence on how people felt about crime and anti-social behaviour.
- Police – nearly half (47%) of panel members would like to see policing improved in their local area.
- How crime has affected you personally – a quarter (24%) of respondents had been a victim of crime or anti-social behaviour. However, the types of crimes and anti-social behaviour you reported related to personal behaviour and social attitudes rather than serious crime.
Recommendations
The findings showed that there were several issues that needed to be addressed. As a result of what panel members told us, the following recommendations were made:
- use the findings from this survey to feed into the work of the Highways Department
- use the findings from this survey in developing the Local Transport Plan 3
- ensure that panel members' concerns about Road Safety are taken into account
- use the findings from this survey to feed into the work of the partners in the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership.
- ensure that the top three types of crime and anti-social behaviour that panel members identified are included as priorities for 2010/2011.
The findings from this survey are being used to inform work that is currently being carried out in the Transport and Environment department and the Community Safety Team. The conclusions and recommendations will be fed back to directors and senior managers of the relevant departments.
You can download our report containing the survey results below.
Actions taken
A number of actions have been taken as a result of the survey. A summary is shown below and you can read more details by downloading the outcomes report at the bottom of this page.
Transport
Our Highways service have used this feedback to decide where to concentrate valuable resources, including:
- increasing the notice period given to residents and businesses about road works that affect them
- increasing the amount of information on advanced warning signs about road works
- using the results in developing the Local Transport Plan 3.
Find out more about our priorities and plans for transport:
Community safety
The East Sussex Safer Communities Partnership has used this feedback together with information from other sources to inform their priorities for 2010/11.
These priorities are to:
- reduce actual crime levels in East Sussex and target actions in crime hotspots
- reduce the harm caused by alcohol misuse and drugs
- prevent and reduce violent crime (including violent crime in public places, sexual offences, domestic violence and hate crime)
- improve road safety
- reduce adult reoffending
- reduce acquisitive crime such as burglary
- reduce anti-social behaviour and improve perceptions
- prevent youth crime
- improve communication and public confidence.
Find out more about how we are Working together to tackle crime.
New surveys
We also used the questions from this survey to develop two ongoing surveys available to residents all year round. We analyse the results every three months.
Contact us
If you have any queries about this survey, please contact our Consultation and Engagement Manager.
East Sussex County Council