Councillors highlight need to engage young people after 'encouraging' survey

Councillors at Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council have highlighted a need to engage young people as the results of their Citizens' Survey were published.

The survey reflected positively on the Council overall, with an average rating of 3.2 out of 5 recorded by statisticians APSE Solutions, who were tasked with carrying it out.

Respondents from the Limavady area thought most highly of the Council, awarding it an average rating of 3.5 out of 5.

Refuse collection was ranked the most important aspect of Council work by the 2,268 respondents, with 78% rating the service as very important to them.

When respondents were asked to rate how well the refuse collection service were doing, they responded positively, with the majority rating each aspect as good or excellent.

However, the lowest rated aspect of Council business was that of community facilities, with community facilities for young people scoring lower than any other service element in the survey.

68.78% of respondents rated the facilities for young people as average or worse, but a closer look at the demographics of the survey helped councillors to analyse these results.

Just 2.74% of respondents were below the age of 24, with only 0.75% under 18, and 11.3% below the age of 34.

Over half the survey's respondents were in the 55 and over bracket, with the report stating 'older people are disproportionately represented in the survey responses'.

The report suggested a reason for this could be that younger people are 'less well engaged' than older citizens in the business of the Council.

Cllr Darryl Wilson of the UUP.

The detail led Cllr Darryl Wilson to ask Council officials about the methods used to conduct the survey.

A council official said there were a 'suite of approaches' used.

“There was social media, newspapers, leaflets to doors,” they said.

“Our social media was twofold. There was the text and pictures and then a video starring the Mayor talking through it.

“That got 2,200 views alone. Some viewed briefly, some watched til its end. The reach is limited due to our numbers on that, but it was supplemented by our other forms of communication.”

Cllr Wilson said if the survey was to be repeated, the Council needed to maximise the reach of its promotion so as to reach more younger people.

“You are saying 2.2K views. Three quarters of the people had swiped past it within the first three seconds, so maybe some constructive criticism,” he said.

“It may be worth investing a little more to make sure that social media reach is maximised. It would be interesting to see the comparison in cost to what a digital strategist could add to the formula.”

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The council official also revealed the exercise had cost Council at least £7,000, with the bulk of the cost associated with the leaflet drop.

“In terms of consultation, we're talking £6-7000 and another £1000 in terms of design for leaflets, posters and branding,” they said.

“We tried to be as savvy as we could. We utilised some of our in-house colleagues and filmed that ourselves in the Mayor's chamber.

“We're hoping moving forward that we maybe wouldn't do a drop to every single door and that would affect the overall cost.”

Alderman George Duddy welcomed the report, but drew attention to the relatively poor scoring of the community facilities.

“There is a considerable amount of work to be done to drag those statistics up,” he said.

“We need to look at Wifi for some of our community centres. Given everything we've come through and that we're in a more technological era, we need to look at it.

“When we look at the more elderly and vulnerable, things could be held in community centres and broadcast to those at home so they aren't feeling as isolated.”

Cllr Richard Holmes.

Council Mayor, Richard Holmes, said the overall results of the survey were 'hugely encouraging'.

“We are enthused by these initial results and looking ahead, we want to build on what we have learned and use the survey to help shape and further improve our service delivery,” he said.

“This has proven to be a very useful exercise and I am determined that it will form the basis for continued improvement and innovation while strengthening our relationship with our ratepayers.”

A full breakdown of the results from the Citizens' Survey can be viewed on the Council website.

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