Trust in Central Bedfordshire Council lowest in its history, survey suggests

Overall satisfaction with CBC has fallen below the national average, according to a report to its corporate resources overview and scrutiny committee.

The local authority “surveys a representative sample of Central Bedfordshire residents every other year,” using well-established questions to obtain their opinions on a range of services, said the report. “The latest research is from September and October 2024.

“Nationally, the Local Government Association survey has seen a drop in the number of people who think their council provides value for money from 57 per cent to 37 per cent.

“Eight out of ten residents in Central Bedfordshire are satisfied with their local area. Green space, location and sense of community are the best things about living here and residents feel safe.

“Satisfaction with parks and open spaces, refuse collection, recycling, street cleaning, libraries, sports and leisure facilities, services for young people and services for older people are all in line with or above the national comparison.

“Around road and pavement maintenance the levels of happiness are low, while satisfaction with the way the council runs things and value for money have continued to decline locally and nationally.

“Local issues influencing experiences and perceptions of residents include the condition of our roads, charging for garden waste, a lack of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision, school reorganisation and customer service. These were all commonly cited as reasons for dissatisfaction.

“Trust and acting on concerns of residents have continued to decline, and are at the lowest level since CBC was formed. Residents feeling informed is above the national comparison,” added the report. “The most popular source of information is community Facebook pages.

“There’s been an increase in dissatisfaction with CBC and with universal services (roads, pavements, recycling and refuse collection), although satisfaction with recycling and refuse collection are still comfortably above the national average.”

Council leader and Independent Potton councillor Adam Zerny told the committee: “The important thing on behalf of the council is that we hear the residents, note their concerns and acknowledge we can always do better.

“It’s also important to recognise the perception versus reality side of it, as there’s a certain amount of evidence of improvements in recent years in some of the service areas about which the public have great concerns,” he explained.

Liberal Democrat Leighton Linslade South councillor Shaun Roberts referred to “particular concern about ‘this council acting on concerns of residents’ and being ‘trustworthy’, saying: Those are figures which have dropped scarily, so we’re now way below the national average.

“The ‘we hear you and we’ve got to do something about this’ is exactly the right response. This hasn’t been the most harmonious council for the last year. It should be a wake up call and give people something to work towards about how we repair the damage our residents see in terms of trust.”