Living in Lancashire wave 38
| Purpose | The objective of this survey is to look at people's views about trading standards and public transport, roads and streets |
|---|---|
| Subject |
Public transport Road and pavement maintenance and repairs |
| Commissioned by | Communication Service, Environment Directorate |
| Geographic area |
All of Lancashire |
|---|---|
| Method |
Questionnaire - online Questionnaire - postal |
| Consultation with |
Life in Lancashire panel |
| Date | 12/09/2012 - 19/10/2012 |
| Undertaken by | Corporate Research and Intelligence Team |
Results
| Number in sample | 2585 |
|---|---|
| Number of responses | 1860 |
| Response rate | 71% |
| Key findings | Scams - Three quarters of respondents said that, if they thought they had been the victim of a scam, they would tell friends and family members to be aware of the scam (77%), while two thirds of respondents said they would report the scam (67%). - Just over half of respondents who have been the victim of a scam in the past two years did not report it (56%). - Four fifths of respondents knew they could report scams to the police (80%) and three quarters knew they could report scams to Lancashire County Council's Trading Standards (73%). Trading Standards - Around one in eight respondents feel very well informed (13%) and three fifths feel fairly well informed (59%) about their rights as a consumer. - Half of respondents said they know at least a little about Trading Standards (52%). - Around three fifths of respondents would prefer to receive information on consumer protection and other Trading Standards services through leaflets (63%). Other popular channels are local newspapers (56%) and the internet (42%). Public transport - Over half of respondents have used bus services in Lancashire in the past 12 months (56%). Disabled respondents and respondents aged 60 and over are more likely to have used bus services in Lancashire in the past 12 months (61% and 66% answered yes respectively). - Nearly half of respondents who don't use bus services said they don't use them because journey times are too long compared to other forms of transport (47%). A third said the cost of the service is too high compared to alternative modes of transport (31%). - Only a small percentage of respondents don't use bus services because they feel unsafe when travelling on their local bus services (5%) or because the condition of bus stations and bus stops discourages them from using public transport (9%). Roads and streets - Satisfaction levels regarding the condition of pavements are about the same for Lancashire and for respondents' local areas. Responses to these questions have not changed significantly since 2011. - The proportion of respondents that are satisfied with the condition of road surfaces in Lancashire has improved since last year (39% in 2011, 45% in 2012). - Around half of respondents disagree that the overall quality of pothole repair has improved over the past six months (49%), while around a quarter of respondents agree (26%). |
| Outcomes | Trading Standards - Around three quarters of respondents said they knew they could report a scam to Trading Standards and the majority of respondents would prefer to report a scam by phone call. It would therefore be useful to make sure that the telephone number to report scams to is prominent on any Trading Standards promotional material (eg website, leaflets). - BME respondents are more likely to say that they wouldn't report scams but also more likely to have been the victim of scams over the past two years. As it is unclear why this is the case, it may be worth doing some further research with this group to determine what prevents them from reporting scams and if there is anything that could be done by Trading Standards or the Communications Service to improve this. - Respondents said they are more likely to report a scam if it caused them to lose a significant amount of money. While this is useful, it may mean that scams which don't cause people to lose money, but are a problem in other ways, are not being reported. The service may want to explore how to encourage people to report all types of scams. - Only around half of respondents said they know anything about Trading Standards. Further research could be done to determine whether participants would like to know more about Trading Standards and what, in particular, they would like to know. This information could then be provided through respondents' preferred information routes (leaflets, local newspapers and the internet). Public transport - Respondents are most likely to use more traditional forms of access to bus service information (eg timetables at bus stops, information offices at bus stations). Only a small proportion of respondents currently use more modern sources of information (eg text message, internet). If the service is looking to move away from traditional access channels it should monitor this to ensure that people are still able to access information when they need to. Roads and streets - Opinions on the condition of pavements and footpaths have not changed significantly since these questions were asked in 2011. However, opinions on the condition of roads have improved slightly since last year. It is recommended that future survey work continues to keep a consistent approach to asking these questions enabling trends to be monitored over time. This data can then be used in conjunction with operational data to help inform service planning decisions. - Demographic analysis of the questions on the perception of the condition of roads and streets reveals fairly consistent levels of satisfaction across most of the districts. The one exception is that respondents in Rossendale and Wyre are more likely to be very dissatisfied with the condition of road surfaces in their local area. The service may want to investigate this further. Is there an issue with road surface problems in these districts not being reported or with the service not responding to reported issues? Is this a perceived issue or is there a difference in the standard of road condition in these districts compared to other districts? |
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
Related information
http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/atoz/toptasks/index.asp?catID=13091
http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/atoz/a_to_z/service.asp?u_id=2548&tab=1
http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/atoz/toptasks/index.asp?catType=5&catID=13079&subcatID=-1