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Shaping the future of the city
The following chart shows that respondents think ‘collecting rubbish and recycling’ is the most important service area now (73%).
- Almost three quarters of respondents selected ‘collecting rubbish and recycling’ as the most important service area now (73%).
- The smallest proportion of respondents selected ‘providing planning and building control services’ as most important (2%).
- The most popular theme that emerged from a thematic analysis of the ‘other’ response was more investment in cultural facilities or events in the city (12%).
The following table shows variation by postcode district between the top three services areas chosen by respondents, ‘collecting rubbish and recycling’ was most popular across the board.
Most important service areas by postcode
| wdt_ID | Postcode district | Service 1 | Service 2 | Service 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PO1 | Collecting rubbish and recycling | Providing social care services for vulnerable children and keeping them safe | Providing social care services for elderly people and those with disabilities and helping them to lead independent lives |
| 2 | PO2 | Collecting rubbish and recycling | Providing social care services for elderly people and those with disabilities and helping them to lead independent lives | Providing social care services for vulnerable children and keeping them safe |
| 3 | PO3 | Collecting rubbish and recycling | Providing social care services for elderly people and those with disabilities and helping them to lead independent lives | Providing social care services for vulnerable children and keeping them safe |
| 4 | PO4 | Collecting rubbish and recycling | Providing social care services for elderly people and those with disabilities and helping them to lead independent lives | Providing social care services for vulnerable children and keeping them safe |
| 5 | PO5 | Collecting rubbish and recycling | Providing social care services for elderly people and those with disabilities and helping them to lead independent lives | Providing social care services for vulnerable children and keeping them safe |
| 6 | PO6 | Collecting rubbish and recycling | Providing social care services for elderly people and those with disabilities and helping them to lead independent lives | Providing social care services for vulnerable children and keeping them safe |
- Base: PO1 (158) | PO2 (230) | PO3 (158) | PO4 (366) | PO5 (183) | PO6 (238)
- ‘Collecting rubbish and recycling’ was selected as the most important service area by respondents from every postcode district.
- ‘Providing social care services for elderly people/ those with disabilities’ was the second most popular option chosen by respondents from every postcode district except PO1; this cohort’s second most selected option was ‘social care services for vulnerable children’.
- ‘Social care services for vulnerable children’ was the third most popular choice for respondents from all other postcode districts.
The following table shows the most popular themes from a thematic analysis of the reasons why respondents chose certain service areas, most popular was choosing an area that would support the residents of Portsmouth.
Reasons for selecting most important service areas
| wdt_ID | Responses | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Important to support residents | 43 |
| 2 | Cleanliness is important | 23 |
| 3 | Important to respondent personally | 23 |
| 4 | Important to invest in the economy | 17 |
| 5 | All services are important | 11 |
| 6 | Seen as the ‘essential’ services | 10 |
| 7 | Leisure/ recreational facilities are important | 7 |
| 8 | Would improve city/ citizen’s lives | 6 |
| 9 | Important to support schools/ education | 6 |
| 10 | Open spaces are important | 5 |
- Base: 1,126 (showing themes mentioned by at least 30 respondents)
- The most popular theme that emerged was around choosing the service areas which support the residents of Portsmouth, especially vulnerable residents such as those who are homeless or disabled (43%).
- Equal proportions of respondents also prioritised service areas based on cleanliness i.e. living in a city that improves health and reduces risk of disease (23%), as well as prioritising service areas which were most important to them personally/ affect them most (23%).
Some of our residents have said:
“Because I believe they matter to me the most and will help a lot of people in our area.”
“It is important to protect and support the most vulnerable, and to ensure the environment we all live in is fit for good health.”
“There are so many people living in the city it is important to keep it clean and tidy, and free of rubbish, to stop the spread of germs and disease, and to make the city attractive to tourists, which we need to generate income.”
Priority areas of future investment
The following chart shows the most popular areas for future investment are related to the environment; 45% chose making refuse collections more environmentally friendly and 41% selected increasing sustainable travel.
- The most popular areas selected by respondents for future investment were related to the environment; 45% chose making refuse collections more environmentally friendly and 41% selected increasing sustainable travel.
- Over a third of respondents also selected ‘making urgent repairs to school buildings’ (36%).
- The least popular area for investment in the future was in ‘facilities for sport’, with just 7% of respondents choosing this.
The following table shows that there is variation by postcode district between the top three services areas chosen by respondents.
Priority areas of future investment by postcode
| wdt_ID | Postcode district | Area 1 | Area 2 | Area 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PO1 | Investing in facilities for walking and cycling, increasing sustainable travel | Making our rubbish and recycling collections more environmentally friendly | Increasing school places and other provision for children with special educational needs |
| 3 | Making urgent repairs to school buildings | |||
| 4 | PO2 | Making our rubbish and recycling collections more environmentally friendly | Investing in facilities for walking and cycling, increasing sustainable travel | Making urgent repairs to school buildings |
| 5 | PO3 | Making our rubbish and recycling collections more environmentally friendly | Investing in facilities for walking and cycling, increasing sustainable travel | Increasing greening in the city |
| 6 | Making urgent repairs to school buildings | |||
| 7 | PO4 | Making our rubbish and recycling collections more environmentally friendly | Investing in facilities for walking and cycling, increasing sustainable travel | Making urgent repairs to school buildings |
| 11 | Investing in leisure facilities (e.g. swimming facilities and gyms) | |||
| 12 | PO5 | Making our rubbish and recycling collections more environmentally friendly | Investing in facilities for walking and cycling, increasing sustainable travel | Making urgent repairs to school buildings |
| 13 | PO6 | Making our rubbish and recycling collections more environmentally friendly | Making urgent repairs to school buildings | Investing in facilities for walking and cycling, increasing sustainable travel |
- Base: PO1 (158) | PO2 (230) | PO3 (158) | PO4 (366) | PO5 (183) | PO6 (238)
- Again, respondents from PO1 differed overall compared to respondents from the other postcode districts; increasing sustainable travel was most popular for this cohort, followed by making refuse collections more environmentally friendly.
- Respondents from the PO6 area also diverged, ‘making urgent repairs to school buildings’ was their second most prioritised area for investment, and respondents from PO3 were the only cohort to select ‘increasing greening in the city’ in high proportions.
The following table shows the most popular themes from a thematic analysis of the reasons why respondents chose certain service areas for future investment, over one third felt that environment improvements need to be prioritised (35%).
Reasons for prioritising areas of future investment
| wdt_ID | Reasons for areas chosen | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Environmental improvements | 35 |
| 2 | Supporting residents | 23 |
| 3 | Important to respondent personally | 19 |
| 4 | Supporting education/ schools | 19 |
| 5 | Improving city facilities | 17 |
| 6 | Important to City/ residents | 8 |
| 7 | Council IT efficiencies | 6 |
| 8 | All areas need investment | 5 |
| 9 | Invest for future | 4 |
| 10 | Investment in economy | 4 |
- Base: 956 (showing themes mentioned by at least 20 respondents)
- Over one third (35%) of respondents felt that environmental improvements should be invested in – with many suggesting that climate change and reducing air pollution should be a priority for future investment.
- Supporting residents also emerged as a key investment priority for respondents (23%), including helping residents to live safer and healthier lives.
Some of our residents have said:
“I’d like these areas given priority because they reflect my own interests.”
“We have to be more environmentally friendly in what we have used and how we get about, schools need to be more inclusive for those pupils who struggle at mainstream, and there needs to be more availability for their educational needs to be met.”
“Environmental protection will benefit the overall health, wellbeing and sustainability of Portsmouth residents and businesses. I do not feel you can improve lives for residents without considering this in all future planning decisions.”