A SURVEY – in which 42 per cent of respondents rated the council’s overall response to the Covid pandemic as ‘good’ – is set to be discussed by councillors.

At its meeting on Wednesday, the scrutiny committee is recommended to note the contents of the council’s residents’ survey 2022.

The committee is also recommended to discuss the proposal that, in the near future, a further resident engagement exercise is undertaken to ‘engage a wider part of the population in Warrington’.

The survey aimed to ask residents their opinions about the quality of life in their local area, topical issues such as the council response to Covid, and satisfaction with local public services. The previous survey was conducted in 2012.

The intention of the 2022 survey was to ‘strengthen local accounting’ by giving the people of Warrington the opportunity to comment on services and local priorities.

A report on the survey stated that the research was undertaken by Direct Data Analysis, on behalf of the council, and took place via a postal survey of residents across the local authority area.

It added: “Direct Data Analysis drew a random sample of 5,003 addresses from a list provided by the council of 97,573 properties within the local authority area.

“A questionnaire and covering letter were sent to each address in the sample on 3rd August 2022. Each survey pack contained a pre-paid envelope for return of postal questionnaires.

“The covering letter contained a web address and QR code, allowing respondents to complete the survey online or via their mobile phone.

“A reminder letter was sent to 1,000 households in wards with the lowest response rates from the initial mail-out. Fieldwork closed on 22nd September 2022. By the end of the fieldwork period, 1,199 surveys had been completed. This represented a response rate of 24%.”

A total of 42 per cent of respondents felt that the council’s overall response to the Covid pandemic was ‘good’, 17 per cent ‘very good’, ‘fair’ 32 per cent, ‘poor’ six per cent, ‘very poor’ three per cent.