North Northamptonshire Council Residents’ Satisfaction Survey 2025

During summer 2025, the council commissioned an external company called Yonder Data Solutions to carry out a residents’ satisfaction survey, via a telephone exercise. Yonder were asked to use the same methodology as the survey carried out by the Local Government Association so that some comparison can be made. These were chosen to allow North Northamptonshire Council to benchmark its performance, providing context to findings and identifying areas of strength and improvement. Bespoke questions specific to North Northamptonshire Council were also incorporated alongside these to explore additional areas of interest and local issues.

Additionally, an online version was created and all residents were encouraged to participate.

This Residents’ Satisfaction Survey is the first of its type for North Northamptonshire.

Of the 500 residents who responded to Yonder’s telephone survey:

a. Local Area Satisfaction: 68% of residents were satisfied with their area as a place to live, slightly below the national average of 74%.

b. Council Performance: 41% expressed satisfaction with how the council runs things, compared to 56% nationally. Older residents and women reported higher satisfaction.

c. Value for Money: Only 28% felt the council provides good value for money, below the national average of 36%. Perceptions of value for money are therefore low nationally.

d. Responsiveness: 37% believed the council acts on residents’ concerns, significantly lower than the national figure of 53%.

e. Service Satisfaction:

• Waste collection (77%) and parks / green spaces (68%) are broadly aligned with national averages.

• Street cleaning (48%), library services (48%), and sports/leisure services (45%) were below national benchmarks.

• Road maintenance (13%), pavement maintenance (34%), and services for young and older people (32% each).

f. Communication: Only 33% felt well informed about council services, compared to 47% nationally. This highlights a need for improved communication.

g. Decision making: 78% of North Northamptonshire residents stated they would prefer local councillors to make local decisions. This is significantly higher than the national findings, where 70% expressed the same preference.

Of the 3,451 responses to the online survey:

a. Local Area Satisfaction: 49.9% of residents were satisfied with their area as a place to live, slightly below the national average of 74%.

b. Council Performance: 62.2% expressed satisfaction with how the council runs things, compared to 56% nationally.

c. Value for Money: Only 11.6% felt the council provides good value for money, below the national average of 36%. Perceptions of value for money are therefore low nationally.

d. Responsiveness: 14.5% believed the council acts on residents’ concerns, significantly lower than the national figure of 53%.

e. Service Satisfaction:

• Waste collection (70.7%) was broadly aligned with national averages.

• Street cleaning (25.8%), library services (28.9%), sports/leisure services

(24.4%), green space (48.3%) were below national benchmarks.

• Road maintenance (3.4%), pavement maintenance (8.4%), and services for young and older people (9.5% each).

f. Communication: Only 17.5% felt well informed about council services, compared to 47% nationally. This highlights a need for improved communication.

g. Decision making: 42.8% of North Northamptonshire residents stated they would prefer local councillors to make local decisions. This is significantly lower than the national findings, where 70% expressed the same preference.

You can view the full report and analysis via the:

Yonder Residents Survey Long Form Report

Further details can also be found in the Corporate Scrutiny Committee papers for 21 October 2025.

The results have been utilised to help identify potential areas for greater emphasis and action, and to help develop the council’s draft Corporate Plan 2025-29, which takes a prevention-based approach.

Further details about the draft Corporate Plan 2025-29 can be found in the Corporate Scrutiny Committee papers for 21 October 2025, at item 7.