Councils in South West "Poorly Prepared for Brexit" and "Performing Badly" says New Opinion Poll

WESTMINSTER, U.K. - Nov. 13, 2018 - PRLog -- A new survey carried out to investigate perceptions of how local authorities in the South West of England are performing has just been released in summary form. The survey reveals the public's perception of the level of preparedness for the Exit from the European Union at Council level, and also highlights the generally low level of satisfaction with local services across the region.

The survey, by Cornwall based researchers Novorda, was carried out in mid October using a representative cross sample of everyday people from across the South West, and highlights levels of sentiment - mostly negative - over how well Councils are perceived as being prepared for Brexit, as well as how they are seen to be performing in general.

Novorda commissioned the survey to examine such attitudes across the region, focusing on the counties of Devon, Dorset, Avon, Somerset and Cornwall.

The key findings, according to Novorda CEO Dr. Douglas Watson, show that Councils, despite having oversight over a wide range of public services, do not appear to have convinced local service users that they are prepared for any impact that Brexit may have on local life.

Speaking as Novorda launched a document summarising the key findings of the poll, Dr Watson observed that:

"With the UK's exit from the EU getting closer, and with the nation's local authorities at the same time taking on more and more responsibilities from a Westminster which is becoming less centralist in approach with time, the time is right to look at how those authorities are performing in terms of Brexit preparedness and general performance. Being based in Cornwall, we understandably chose to focus on the South West of England."

"Frankly, the South West's local authorities need to improve. Although it's unrealistic to expect that anyone at all is ever going to love what Councils do, or go wild with enthusiastic support for them in any kind of survey, the results of our poll are still eye-opening"

"At a time when Cornwall Council, for example, is talking about a potential 4% rise in Council Tax next year as well as pushing for more powers to be devolved from London, the message from locals seems to be - get better at spending what you already take in, and pay urgent attention to improving what you already have responsibility for, before even thinking about asking for more."

The survey reveals that:

• Less than 10% of people in the region feel their Council has done enough to prepare for Brexit
• Only 14% of people in the South West feel their Council is performing well overall

"In general, across the region, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - about this survey which is good news for local authorities," Dr. Watson added, "and any relative high points are not a case of 'Good' - but rather a case of 'Best of Bad'"

The document summarising the findings of the survey is available on request from Novorda via their website http://www.novorda.com

Novorda is a multi-sector research consultancy based in Cornwall in the UK.