One in four planning committee members oppose the building of new homes in their local area, new APSE / Survation poll finds

A Survation poll, conducted on behalf of the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), also finds the public wants more money for local councils for local services - with road maintenance, affordable housing and adult and children's social care being the most popular areas to receive more investment. 

Survation were asked by APSE to provide a public opinion survey of attitudes to local neighbourhood services in 2024, covering the range of council services that would appear in their local area. Survation also polled councillors in Great Britain, to gauge their opinion on levels of funding, financial health of councils and their priorities for protecting services.

Key findings for 2024

In line with the new government’s target to build 1.5 million homes over the current parliament, a majority of Councillors support new homebuilding in their Local Authorities. However, a significant number (1 in 5) are opposed to any new building development over current levels including one in four (25%) of council planning committee members.

One in three councillors think their local authority is at risk of bankruptcy within the next five years

When councillors were asked about the likelihood of their local authority issuing a Section 114 notice over the course of this parliament, over a third (34%) reported the risk of bankruptcy as “very likely or likely” 

Adequacy of new funding announcements

Reacting to the additional £1.3 billion in financial support for local councils announced in the recent budget, 87% of councillors surveyed do not believe their authority will receive funding adequate to their needs from central government. When asked about the cancellation or closure of services since 2010, culture and events and libraries have suffered the most - topping the list with 39% and 35% of councillors noting cancellation or closure. 

Regarding the additional £1.2 billion earmarked for adult and children’s social care, 85% of councillors said it was not enough.

The public wants more money for local councils and local services

On the issue of funding, 67% of the public would like the Government to give more money to local councils to spend at a local level.

Trust remains high in councils and councillors compared to the national Government

The survey found trust in councils is still high overall compared to trust in Government – 49% are more trusting of councils, compared to 14% for the Government. The difference was even more stark between trust in councillors (53%) and Government ministers (6%) - while 29% of the public said ‘none of the above’.

The majority of the public support low-emissions and traffic reduction measures

Over half of the public (52%) support schemes designed to reduce congestion and emissions from cars, such as the ultra-low emission zone and congestion charge – a quarter (25%) oppose them. 61% supported measures to reduce air pollution and improve health.

Road maintenance, followed by affordable housing, adult social care and children’s social services are the most popular areas to receive more investment

Asked to allocate a notional budget of new spending across 12 services, the public allocated the most new spending to:

1.         Road maintenance – 12.7 % of notional spending

2.         Affordable Housing – 10.6 % of notional spending

3.         Adult social care – average of 10.3 % of notional spending

4.         Children’s social services  – average of 9% of notional spending

Speaking about the poll results, Mo Baines, APSE Chief Executive, said: “It is a concern that objective approaches to planning consents and reforms, to turbocharge new homes, could be frustrated by the apparent one in four planning committee members who oppose new developments in local areas. Clearly more work needs to be done to reassure local planning members. This could of course create friction with planning officer advice and the view of the committee members.  

“The results have also demonstrated how much the public value council services and that they want to see more money spent locally to see services improve. With one in three councillors now predicting their authority will be in financial distress in the next five years – demands for further financial relief will intensify in the lead up to the Spending Review in 2025."

Damian Lyons Lowe, Survation Chief Executive, added:

“Despite the financial issues, councils continue to deliver well, with public satisfaction in key services like waste, street lighting, and cleaning remaining strong.

“However, urgent action is needed. Councillors and the public agree that adult and children’s social care are top priorities for investment, yet 87% of councillors say the latest funding announcements fall short of what’s needed.

“With 67% of the public supporting more funding devolved to councils, and trust in councils far outstripping that in national government, the message is clear: local authorities need more resources to meet rising demand and deliver for communities.”

Download Summary of Findings (pdf)

ENDS

Notes to editors

About the survey

• This is the ninth survey in a yearly series commissioned by APSE.
• The Polling was conducted via online panel between November 18th and 27th 2024.
• Data were weighted by age, sex, region, , highest level of qualification, annual equivalised household income, 2024 General Election Vote, and 2016 EU Referendum Vote. Targets for the weighted data were derived from Office for National Statistics Data and the results of the 2024 UK General Election and the 2016 EU Referendum.
• The overall sample size was 1,734.

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About APSE

The Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) is owned by its members and, working on their behalf, maintains and develops a network of local government officers, managers and councillors from local authorities across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

APSE campaigns for support to local authority frontline services and for fair funding to local government.