It's Official: The Lib Dems Have Made Southwark a Better Place to Live

1.51.57pm GMT Tue 15th Nov 2005

Residents in Southwark think the area is getting better, and satisfaction with the way the council is running the Borough has grown year on year since the Lib Dems took control three and half years ago.

A new MORI survey of local residents, commissioned by Southwark Council, shows:

· Southwark as an area to live is getting better: UP from +1 in 2004 to +16 in 2005 (slide 4);

· Net satisfaction with the way the council is running the Borough UP steadily from +34 in 2000 to +43 in 2005 (slide 15);

· High satisfaction with the council way above the national average (slide 16);

· The way the council is being run is getting better: UP from +9 in 2004 to +19 in 2005 (slide 17);

· Satisfaction with street cleaning has rocketed since the Lib Dems took control: UP from +24 in 2000 to +57 in 2005 (slide 24);

· Massive improvement in informing residents: UP from -11 in 2000 to +12 in 2005 (slide 33);

Commenting on the results, Cllr Nick Stanton, Lib Dem Leader of the Council, said:

"This is great news for the Council and a real vote of confidence for the Liberal Democrat administration.

"On many of the key areas we are showing steady improvement - with refuse collection and street cleaning; in education, across pre-school, primary and secondary; with library services; and amongst tenants.

"People are happier with Southwark and happier with the way we are running it.

"The majority of people contacting the Council find our staff helpful and friendly and that should improve even further through the work of the new One Stop Shops and Customer Service Centre.

"But we are not complacent and there are many areas where we need to work even harder and we will continue to work closely with the police and the health services to ensure we improve those services for our residents."