Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.
Background: The Place Survey, 2008 is the first survey in a series intended to be conducted on a biennial basis. It provides information on people's perceptions of their local area and the local services they receive. It is one of the largest surveys in Europe, with over 500,000 respondents living in 329 councils in England. The survey supplies the data that inform 18 National Indicators across six Government departments. The indicators are common to all local areas, and measure how well the Government's priorities, as set out in the Comprehensive Spending Review, are being delivered by local government and their local partners. They form an important part of the New Performance Framework for Local Authorities and Local Authority Partnerships. Also collected were data that help monitor eight Departmental Strategic Objective and 11 Public Service Agreement indicators. The main aim of the survey was for unitary and top-tier local authorities to gather robust and reliable baseline information for the 18 National Indicators so that, where an indicator is part of a Local Area Agreement, improvements can be set. The survey is one tool available for councils and their partners to understand the views of local people. It is expected that local service providers will have many ways both of seeking direct feedback on services and of exploring perceptions of the area. The New Performance Framework expects councils and partners to use all evidence at their disposal to build a robust understanding of the area they serve and the people who live there. Within this context, the survey provides a set of national indicators that are common to all areas. However, to be properly understood, these measures will need to be interpreted in their local context and set alongside other local information. Data Notes Although the data file for this study contains a local authority identifier variable alongside the Government Office Region and county variables, it is not displayed via the catalogue record variable list due to technical specifications. Since the study was first released, the variable q16_01 (relating to whether the respondent has been a local councillor) has been removed at the request of the depositor, although this variable may still be referred to in the documentation. In addition, value labels have been added for variable q36bin (relating to respondent ethnicity), also at the request of the depositor. Restrictions on access to the Place Survey At the time the Place Survey, 2008 was carried out, the following information was given to respondents about how and by whom their responses would be used: "Responses, which will not include personal information auch as names and addresses, will only be used by public service organisations to monitor public services and assess how well they are performing." Each local authority in England was responsible for carrying out the survey in their area. Authorities (with a few exceptions) have given permission for their datasets to be lodged on the UK Data Archive as a single national amalgamated file, for use by named contacts in central or local government. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) will therefore consider applications for the use of this dataset to ensure they comply with these conditions. Further information and publications: Information about the Place Survey and access to relevant publications, data and results are provided on DCLG's Places Database and Place Survey Results 2008 web pages and the Audit Commission's Place Survey web page.
Main Topics:
The survey includes questions covering:satisfaction with the local areasatisfaction with and use of local public servicessatisfaction with the level of information relating to public servicessatisfaction with local decision-makingvolunteeringinvolvement in decision-making groupsattitudes towards the level of respect and consideration shown amongst members of the local community and from local public servicessatisfaction with community safetycharacteristics of the respondent and householdThe survey data inform the following 18 National Indicators of how well Government priorities are being delivered by local councils and their partners:per cent of people who believe people from different backgrounds get on well together in their local areaper cent of people who feel that they belong to their neighbourhoodcivic participation in the local areaper cent of people who feel they can influence decisions in their localityoverall/general satisfaction with local areaparticipation in regular volunteeringperceptions of anti-social behaviourdealing with local concerns about anti-social behaviour and crime issues by the local council and policeperceptions of parents taking responsibility for the behaviour of their children in the areaperceptions that people in the area treat one another with respect and considerationunderstanding of local concerns about anti-social behaviour and crime issues by the local council and policeawareness of civil protection arrangements in the local areaperceptions of drunk or rowdy behaviour as a problemperceptions of drug use or drug dealing as a problem self-reported measure of people's overall health and wellbeingsatisfaction of people 65 and over with both home and neighbourhoodextent to which older people receive the support they need to live independentlyfair treatment by local services
Multi-stage stratified random sample
The Audit Commission extracted a random sample of 6,000 addresses of adult residents for each local authority from the Post Office Small Users Address File. Local authorities were instructed to randomly draw from this sample to meet a minimum required sample of 1,100. Some councils stratified their sample in order to ensure adequate coverage of particular areas such as high streets or wards.
Postal survey
