South East Councils (SEC) has today published the latest edition of the South East 1,000 Regional Monitor.
Since Autumn 2020, SEC has commissioned Savanta ComRes to sample the opinion of “1,000” adults, in three cohorts: Business, Councils, Public, on a range of issues.
It includes commentary from SEC Chair Cllr Nick Adams-King, Guest Commentary from Localis Thinktank CEO Jonathan Werran, and an Economists View from Vicky Pryce.
Key findings include:
- When asked what potential ‘cuts’ scenarios they were most concerned about over the next 12 months – 50% of councillors selected “Cuts to care services for older and disabled people”.
- When asked if powers and competencies were to be devolved away from central Government at what level they would most like to see these powers transferred to, the clear preference (44%) of all respondents was to town, city or borough level. Only 25% of all respondents chose the county option (-9% since the last edition).
- A majority (52%) of respondents probed, believed their local area should have more power over Tax and Spending AND less than one third overall (29%) of all respondents felt confidence in central Government making the right decisions for their area.
- 71% of councillors said Business Rates should be set and managed at the Local Level (in a context of growing calls for more control over business rates) and 66% of councillors said a local tourist tax (Hotel tax) should be set and managed at the Local Level.
- On PM Rishi Sunak’s new Advanced British Standard (ABS) Qualification, more thought that the minimum number of subjects should continue to be three than raise to five (49% versus 38%) – BUT the majority agreed that students should be able to study both academic and technical subjects as part of the same qualification (64% versus 25%).
- “Responding to the transport impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic” is ranked lowest at 13%, suggesting that minds are moving on from the pandemic.
Notes
- South East Councils is a voluntary association with most councils in the South East region as members.
- The latest February 2024 edition of the South East 1,000 Regional Monitor is available here.
