Majority of Herefordshire residents feel unsatisfied with highways service
Other services also showed increased levels of dissatisfaction
Last updated 5th Jan 2022
Fewer than one in eight Herefordshire residents think the county's highways service is adequate, a survey has found.
Just 12% of respondents gave roads maintenance the thumbs-up, while 83% said they were "unsatisfied" or "very unsatisfied" with the service.
The finding came from an online public consultation by Herefordshire Council to help set its budget priorities for the next financial year, which drew 134 responses.
When the same survey was held a year ago, with twice the number of responses, dissatisfaction with highways stood at 72%, satisfaction at 19%.
A majority of respondents to the latest survey were also dissatisfied with four other council services:
- buses (61% dissatisfied)
- car parking (60%)
- children’s social services (56%)
- and planning (55%)
All but the last of these show increased levels of dissatisfaction since last year.
The council's care for older people meanwhile saw the largest drop in satisfaction and the largest rise in dissatisfaction.
"Overall, respondents to this year’s consultation were less satisfied or more dissatisfied with most of the services than last year," the council's report on the survey conceded.
However, waste and recycling, the service used by the largest number of respondents, was also the one with the highest level of satisfaction, at 62%.
The next highest-rated for satisfaction were parks and open spaces and schools, both positively rated by 54% of respondents.
What do locals think the council should do?
Asked what the council's spending priorities ought to be for money it might borrow from central government, respondents were "polarised", the survey report said.
An equally high share of respondents – 29% – said highways should be the council's highest and lowest spending priority.
Measures to address climate change were similarly divisive, with 30% saying this should be the top priority, 26% saying this was least important.
Two-fifths of respondents thought Herefordshire Council "is not doing enough towards achieving its ambition of a net-zero and a nature-rich county", while one in eight said they didn't think the council should spend money on this.
On raising the council's revenue in the coming financial year, respondents were given the choices of council tax rises of 1%, 2% or 3%. The split was 38% support for an increase of 1%, with around 20% supporting each of the other options, or "none of the above".
As to whether they would be willing to pay more council tax to help households on low incomes, only half as many respondents (28%) favoured the idea as opposed to it (56%).
The council's latest Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) shows that with a 2% council tax rise this year, revenue from this would grow from £113 million this financial year to nearly £120 million for 2022/23 – bringing the council's total income up to just short of £170 million.