Only 26% of residents feel they can influence decisions in the council (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Only 26% of residents feel they can influence decisions in the council

9:00am Sunday 20th January 2013 in News By Zoe Forsey, Senior Reporter

A community survey has shown that only 26% of St Albans residents feel that they can influence decisions in their local area.

The postal survey, which was delivered to 4,000 households, showed a 7.2% decrease in the number of people who feel they can make a difference.

However, overall the findings of the survey show that people are happy with the district council.

The results show that almost 70% of residents are satisfied with the way the council is run.

The findings also highlight that 41.5% of residents agree that the Council provides value for money, a 5.5% increase on two years ago.

More than 70% of people felt they strongly belong to their neighbourhood, an increase of 7.2% from the last survey.

Councillor Julian Daly, executive leader and portfolio holder for resources at the council, said: “These results show significant increases in satisfaction levels with the way that local services are managed by the district council.

“This is extremely encouraging and shows that the Council is on the right track.”