Call to change city council surveys after as few as five respond

Calls have been made for a new approach to gathering people’s views after it emerged some city council consultations received barely any responses.

The consultations are designed to give people in Oxford a say on council proposals and suggest changes before a final decision is made.

Just 62 people submitted their views about the budget, compared to 265 who shared their opinions on the tower blocks with the city council.

Our top stories

The tower block refurbishment survey asked about improvements to blocks of flats in Blackbird Leys, Cowley, Headington and Wood Farm.

But just five people responded to a survey on the financial inclusion strategy, to air their views on things such as welfare reform, fuel poverty and food banks.

Liberal Democrat group leader Jean Fooks said the low response showed change was needed.

She said: “I think you need to see what is appropriate for which consultation.

When it is something like the budget and you get 62 replies, that’s not great.

“We have to find a way of reaching people, whether through door-knocking to find people who don’t use the internet or by engaging more with community groups. It’s about reaching the right percentage of people.”

Green Party group leader Sam Hollick said: “I think the risk with consultations is that councils use them as a tick-box exercise.

I do not think we are quite as bad as that.

“The council has to look at how it can get people to give feedback in groups rather than just going out and getting individual people to respond.”

Members of the council’s scrutiny committee were presented with a report on consultations carried out between December 2013 and December 2014.

A survey on how the council should promote culture in the city got just 11 replies.

Some consultations did better, with 300 replies to a survey on council rent rises and 428 on the Covered Market.

Consultation officer Sadie Paige said: “We should not just look at the number of replies in isolation. Sometimes we actually get the message within the first 100 replies and we will not see much change after that. One thing we look at is, is there a need to do the consultation in the first place.”

A total of 44 consultations were carried out over 12 months, all online, and the council also organised focus groups.

Donald Young.

Rose Hill resident Donald Young said people did not fill in surveys because the council did not listen.

The Williamson Way resident said: “They just ignore you if you ask for anything. They do not want to know, so what is the point in doing a survey if they ignore them?”

And Wood Farm resident Les Goodwin said: “Surveys are not something I’ve ever been aware of.

I’d definitely want to give my opinion so I think the council should be better at telling us these things are happening.

“When we do have contact with the council we don’t get any feedback. It cuts both ways.”