More Surrey residents dissatisfied with their County Council

8.52.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 22nd Jun 2010

A recent survey has revealed that more Surrey residents are dissatisfied with the County Council and its services in 2010 than in 2009. The results of public satisfaction from January to the end of March 2010 were contained in the Joint Neighbourhood Survey, which was commissioned and managed by the Council in partnership with Surrey Police.

The survey contains the following results for January to March 2010:

• Only 55% of Surrey residents in 2010 were satisfied with the way Surrey County Council runs things compared with 60% at the end of 2009, which is a decrease of 5% of satisfied residents.

• Only 34% of Surrey residents in 2010 felt that Surrey County Council provides value for money compared with 39% at the end of 2009, which again is a 5% decrease.

Commenting on these results the Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council Cllr Hazel Watson said:"I am not surprised that Surrey residents are more dissatisfied with the County Council and its services this year compared with last year.The Conservative administration at Surrey County Council has ignored the views of residents by cutting funding for important services including road maintenance and the youth service, which is the opposite of what Surrey residents want.They urgently need to improve the condition of the roads and increase opening hours of youth centres in response to the results of this survey. They should be cutting bureaucracy and administration rather than cutting much needed services."

Cllr Watson concluded: "It is clear that residents do not believe that they are getting value for money services from the County Council."