In 2022, a new ‘council plan’ was unveiled. It set out what you could expect from Ealing Council – its objectives, plans and priorities – in the 4 years up until 2026. But how has it been doing?

You have had your say. In December, a substantial survey of residents was carried out by an independent research company on behalf of the council. The results were released this spring.

So, we took a look at what you said.

But we also took a look at what the council did. Each year, goals and targets are set. So, we revisited some of the highlights from the past year (2023/24).

First of all, though. What did you think? Let’s find out. The Ealing Residents’ Survey 2023 was published in September after being carried out by an independent company at the end of last year. A total of 1,250 randomly selected residents were spoken to face to face.

What did you say?

Of those asked, 92% said they were either very, or fairly, satisfied with their local area as a place to live. This is a rise of 8% on the results of another survey carried out in 2022.

In addition, 4 in every 5 people (80%) said they were satisfied with the council, which is also a rise of 8%.

And 73% agreed the council provided value for money – a rise of 6%. When asked if the council does a good job, 87% agreed – while 86% thought it had friendly and polite staff, both higher scores than in 2022. Likewise, there was a 4% rise in the number of people who thought the council was efficient and well run (83%).

There were 79% who felt informed by the council about its services – an increase of 11% on the year before. And more than 2-thirds believed it now listens to concerns of local residents (69%) and 3-quarters (74%) thought it now involves residents when making decisions – which represent healthy increases of 8% and 11% respectively.

When broken down into specific services being rated by those who used them, many were rated highly and/or the same as in 2022, but a handful proved less popular.

• playgrounds fell to 79% satisfaction – which is still high, but down by 5%. The council has been refurbishing more than 20 of the borough’s play areas
• leisure and sports facilities (including swimming pools) fell slightly to 72%. And this was not unrecognised by the council, which has been working on providing new sports ground next to Warren Farm, a new leisure centre and pool at Gurnell, and a new park has opened in Perivale. It is also aiming to create a new regional park and investigating an open air swimming lido
• parking services also fell in satisfaction levels – down 15% to 59% – and the council has since announced it will be bringing parking enforcement in-house, rather than it being run by a contractor, to provide a better service

On the other hand, education services provided by the council scored very well, with the satisfaction for nurseries and primary schools both standing at 84% – the former a jump of 8% to and the latter a rise of 4%. Secondary/high schools leapt up by a huge 14% – rising from 71% in 2022 to 85%. Education for pupils with special needs rose 16% to 61%, and this is an achievement the council is aiming to build on by providing more SEND facilities in schools.

Community spirit

When asked about life in the borough, 80% of respondents agreed that local people pull together to improve the local area; and 90% agreed that people from different backgrounds get on well together.

Meanwhile, 20% said they volunteered in the community, and another 6% said they gave unpaid help to others as an individual.

What are you worried about?

When asked what they were most concerned about for the coming 3 years, the 2 areas of highest concern were the cost of living (62%) and access to affordable housing (36%), both of which had gone up from 2022. The national housing crisis is particular stark in London, and you can read more about the council’s work to help on this website.