Londoners are less happy with the quality of services than in the past

We asked Londoners about the quality of a selection of public services in their local area.

Three fifths (59 per cent) of Londoners said they were happy about the parks and public services in their area, compared to just 30 per cent who were happy with parking. In the following sections we dive into the data behind these statistics.

Over the course of our surveys since June 2020, Londoners have become more likely to say they are unhappy with the services that we’ve have asked about across the period.

Londoners’ unhappiness with the quality of healthcare stands out: in June 2020 14 per cent of Londoners were either unhappy or very unhappy; by January 2023 this had risen to 36 per cent.

Women were more likely than men to say they were unhappy with the quality of health services in their area (42 per cent vs 31 per cent), while those in outer London were more likely to say so than those in inner London (39 per cent vs 33 per cent).

Between January 2021 and January 2023, the proportion of Londoners who are unhappy or very unhappy with the police service in their area has risen from 20 per cent to 33 per cent.

Most Londoners agree their neighbourhood is family-friendly

Most Londoners agree that their neighbourhood is family-friendly (55 per cent), while a fifth (18 per cent) disagree. Fewer agree that there is a strong sense of community in their neighbourhood (39 per cent), while nearly a third (31 per cent) disagree.

People are slightly more likely to disagree with the statements ‘my neighbourhood is family friendly’ and ‘there is a strong sense of community in my neighbourhood’ than they were in 2021.

A greater proportion of people who practice a religion than those who do not agreed that there is a strong sense of community in their neighbourhood (47 per cent vs 31 per cent). People who live in inner London were slightly more likely than those in outer London to agree that there’s a strong sense of community where they live (42 per cent vs 37 per cent).

Only a quarter of Londoners say they can influence local decisions

Only 27 per cent of Londoners felt they can influence the decisions made about their local areas, while 44 per cent disagree.

Some groups were more likely to say they felt they could influence local decisions than others: men, younger people, and those living in inner London.

Less than half of Londoners agree their local area is well looked after by their council

41 per cent of Londoners agree or strongly agree that their local area is well looked after by their local council, while 29 per cent disagree or strongly disagree.

Responses to our surveys since June 2020 suggest a shift towards more Londoners disagreeing that their local council is looking after their area well while fewer agree.

In our most recent survey, we found that women are more likely than men and older people are more likely than younger people to say that their area is not well looked after by their local council.