Life in Lancashire Wave 19
| Purpose | Investigate the awareness of the Lancashire public about the European Union, and what they feel the priorities of the Lancashire Brussels Office should be. Find out attitudes towards road safety in Lancashire, and gain an understanding of the public's opinions on how to improve it. Look into the provision of dental services in Lancashire, and particularly to compare the availability of NHS provision since the introduction of streamlined charging in the last year. |
|---|---|
| Subject |
External relations (regional, national, in Europe) Road safety Dental services |
| Commissioned by | Emma Reynolds, Senior Road Safety Advisor Anne O'Mahony, Head of the Lancashire Brussels office Mel Ormesher, Overview and Scrutiny |
| Geographic area |
All of Lancashire |
|---|---|
| Method |
Questionnaire - postal |
| Consultation with |
Life in Lancashire panel |
| Date | 18/07/2007 - 17/08/2007 |
| Undertaken by | Corporate Research and Intelligence Team, Policy Unit |
Results
| Number in sample | 1827 |
|---|---|
| Number of responses | 1467 |
| Response rate | 80% |
| Key findings | Two-fifths of the panel do not think that Lancashire receives any direct funding from the European Union. The mean average funding people think Lancashire gets from Europe is around £30 million over the six years. One in six members of the panel says they are aware of some European funded work in their area. Only three-quarters of respondents knew that a directly elected parliament existed. Only one in five members of the panel considered themselves informed about the European parliament. The top priority for the public in Lancashire for the Brussels Office is to attract European funding to the county, followed by influencing legislation that affects the area. Almost every driver rates themselves as either a very or fairly safe driver. Panel members are much less likely to feel safe on the roads generally. More respondents feel safe as a car passenger than as a driver, while seven in ten feel safe on the roads as a pedestrian. Cycling however is not seen as a safe activity on the roads. The highest road safety priorities for the authorities are to ensure young people drive more safely, ensure driving standards reflect the skills needed for driving today, to have better initial driver training and education, and to make roads safer. More than three-quarters of all respondents say that they think it is difficult to register with an NHS dentist. Nearly half of respondents are dissatisfied with the availability of NHS dental services. Only half of respondents are registered as NHS dental patients. The majority of people who are registered privately said it was because their dentist stopped providing NHS cover. One in five people don't have a dentist at all - half of those who are unregistered say it's because they couldn't get an NHS dentist. |
| Outcomes | Road safety To help ensure young people drive safely and have better initial driver training and education we are providing a number of schemes to help people who are supporting a learner driver. These include: * The award winning CD Rom 'The Perfect Partner' that gives tips for carrying out effective practice sessions, hazard perception clips and printable practice sheets. It is free to Lancashire residents and complements professional driving instruction. * Running a free training scheme called Pre Pass Support Scheme. The training is given by qualified driving instructors and includes practical and classroom sessions for accompanying drivers so they can provide better support to learner drivers. To ensure driving standards reflect the skills needed for driving today we have a dedicated training team in the Road Safety Group that provides a wide range of theory and practical courses to improve and refresh driving skills. These range from offering advice and training to employers to help keep their employees safe, free biker assessments to driver improvement courses. Dental services in Lancashire The county council is still in the process of gathering information about NHS dental services and oral health in Lancashire. Over the next few months, overview and scrutiny will be looking at all the information - from the public and health professionals. |
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
Life in Lancashire members' website:
http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/lil/