Living in Lancashire wave 28
| Purpose | To investigate perceptions of climate change, winter highway maintenance services and investigate how the county council can communicate better with the public of Lancashire. |
|---|---|
| Subject |
Communications Road and pavement maintenance and repairs The environment |
| Commissioned by | Corporate Research and Intelligence Team, Policy Unit |
| Geographic area |
All of Lancashire |
|---|---|
| Method |
Questionnaire - online Questionnaire - postal |
| Consultation with |
Life in Lancashire panel |
| Date | 17/02/2010 - 26/03/2010 |
| Undertaken by | Corporate Research and Intelligence Team, Policy Unit |
Results
| Number in sample | 2626 |
|---|---|
| Number of responses | 2019 |
| Response rate | 76% |
| Key findings | CLIMATE CHANGE * Overall more than twice as many people say they know a lot about climate change. But those women over 60, in socio-economic group DE have less knowledge. * Six in ten people are concerned about the impact of climate change in Lancashire (60%). * The majority say that climate change is mainly due to human activities (53%), though a quarter say it isn't (26%). * The biggest causes of climate change were felt to be the destruction of forests and cutting down of trees (73%), emissions from vehicles (59%), carbon emissions (58%), and manufacturing and industry (56%). * The factors respondents feel they personally contribute most to are emissions from vehicles (82%) and energy use in homes (78%). * Respondents think the effects of climate change worldwide are being felt already (44%). * The biggest proportion thinks the UK government (77%) and themselves personally (65%) are working to tackle climate change. * Very few people think they can personally do a lot to reduce climate change (7%), though people are still making an effort to tackle climate change * The actions most frequently undertaken to limit climate change are recycling (89%), turning lights off when leaving a room (83%), using energy saving lighting (78%), and not leaving things on standby (70%). MEDIA CONSUMPTION * The most commonly read types of newspaper were national tabloids (62%) and local dailies (57%). Those people in the highest socio-economic group (AB) are more likely to read a national broadsheet (68%), respondents from a BME background are more likely to have read a local daily (68%). * Daily national newspapers are read more often than daily local newspapers (37%) versus (15%) read it every/most days respectively. * Local weekly newspapers and national Sunday newspapers are read by a similar proportion of respondents on a regular basis. * The BBC stations have the highest overall listenership (70% national, 68% local ever listened to). * The most popular television news programme was BBC North West Today/Tonight. * Three in ten respondents don't use the internet (30%), this is higher among the over 60s (61%). * A similar proportion of respondents feel informed (50%) as feel un-informed (47%) about the county council and its services. * Respondents don't regularly see, hear or read stories about the County Council in the media, however they do have a perception of the county council from media coverage. * The most commonly viewed service in the media over the last month was gritting (50%), followed by highway maintenance (39%), waste recycling centres (34%), schools (31%) and libraries (31%). * Generally preferences for methods of finding out news about the county council and its services are newspapers and the county council newspaper. * One in three respondents feel that the amount of coverage in the media is about right (29%), but the majority say it is not enough (56%). WINTER HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE * There are significantly more respondents dissatisfied with the winter maintenance this year than are satisfied (53% dissatisfied versus 35% satisfied). There is lower satisfaction with people with a disability, and residents of Pendle and Rossendale. * Seven-tenths of respondents said that the amount of salting on the road network was not high enough. * Only one in seven respondents know where to find information on winter maintenance services. * The information sources people found most useful were radio and television travel bulletins. * The most preferred communication channel for information on winter highway maintenance is radio traffic and travel news (59%), followed by newspapers (46%). |
| Outcomes | COMMUNICATIONS The Communications Team are using the information from the survey to evaluate how we communicate and decide on the best ways to reach people. WINTER HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE Results from the survey were used to develop this year's winter service communications strategy. The strategy focuses on local radio travel bulletins and online information. We will also be working on developing key messages to make sure the public understands the reasons behind the council's decisions on gritting routes. |
Project document(s)
Report(s)
Questionnaire(s)
Contact information
For more information about this research contact:
Melissa Sherliker
01772 535019
Email: haveyoursay@lancashire.gov.uk