The Government requires all Councils to conduct a Best Value User Satisfaction Survey every 3 years. The information is then used by the Audit Commission to categorise councils into quartiles - from best to worst. All Councils have to set targets to reach the top 25% of Councils by 2005.
The Council last carried out a Best Value User Satisfaction Survey in November 2000, in the form of a postal questionnaire based on a random sample of 1000 residents drawn from the electoral roll. The Executive Summary of the findings of this survey is included below: