According to the latest Edinburgh People Survey capital residents remain happy with life here.
This is the largest survey of its kind in the UK, and the council depends upon it to form policy and make decisions. 5,226 people were interviewed face to face, in a representative sample of all council areas or wards in the city. Each ward has a representative sample of 300 people interviewed in the street or in their homes.
From the figures produced an overwhelming 85% of people say they feel safe in their neighbourhood after dark, and 86% agreed that people from different backgrounds get on well together in their neighbourhoods which is broadly a 3% improvement on last year.
94% say they are satisfied with Edinburgh, but only 66% say they are satisfied with the council’s management of the city which has gone down from just over 70% at the start of the Labour SNP coalition in 2012.
Although the council ran a campaign to encourage people to contact them by email or online, largely in a cost-saving exercise, this has not yielded the results they might have anticipated. 40% of those asked said they had contacted the council in the last year, but most did so by telephone rather than using the council’s website. Nonetheless it is a 3% rise over the previous year.
Questions about mental health and wellbeing were introduced to the survey in 2016 in an effort to inform the council about health matters such as social isolation and how they might address them. Health and Social Care remains one of the areas where council spending rises, due to the rising population in the city and the number of those who need such care.
But it is yet again the refuse and recycling issues which figure highly in the complaints made to the council, and this continues to give the council cause for concern and will need to be addressed. Those who say they are happy with the cleanliness of Edinburgh streets has gone down from a massive 86% in 2012 to a lowly 58% in the last year.
That other chestnut, roads and pavements, has not given rise to more concern it seems. The figures are virtually the same as they were five years ago as to those who are apparently happy with the maintenance of our streets.
It was largely from data gathered in a previous version of this survey that the council gained its confidence to proceed with the 20mph moves introduced in the last few months.
Edinburgh is known as the Festival City, and for good reason, as it remains our biggest attraction in the summer and now the winter months that Edinburgh has a wide range of entertainment on offer. But not everyone agrees that this is a good thing. Although 80% of residents think that the festivals make Edinburgh a better place to live the number of those who disagree has risen by a small but appreciable amount. There are also many who have not been to any theatre, live music, museum or art gallery in the last year.
We are a city who like to keep fit though. Almost three quarters said they had exercised on at least one day in the last week which is two points higher than in 2015.
Councillor Andrew Burns, Council Leader, said: “There is a lot to be pleased about in this year’s Edinburgh People Survey results – despite an increasingly challenging financial climate and demand for services we continue to see a high level of satisfaction with life in the Capital.
“What’s also clear is that people feel safe, welcome and included in their local communities, regardless of their background, which certainly adds to the quality of life here.
“While we are encouraged by positive feedback, the survey has allowed us to take stock of the areas the public feel we need to improve too, and this will help inform our priorities moving forward.”
Councillor Frank Ross, Depute Council Leader, added: “Every year the Edinburgh People Survey gives us an insight into what the public feel we are doing right, and the things they want us to do better.
“It’s great to see such high satisfaction this year with services like public transport, parks and our calendar of cultural events, but we also acknowledge the areas that scored lower, and intend to act on these concerns to improve the city for everyone.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
