Shapps plans to axe 'intrusive' Place Survey

In the latest stage in the government's undermining of standardised satisfaction surveys, Grant Shapps has told the Telegraph that he hopes to axe the annual Your Place survey, which asks local residents a series of questions about their views of town hall services.

In Shapps's typical style, he pulls no punches in condemning the survey, saying:

“The idea that council bureaucrats are forced to turn themselves into amateur-pollsters in order to ask a range of highly intrusive personal questions about their residents seems entirely out of place.

“I’m actively looking at whether we can block this year’s round of intrusive town hall surveying, thereby freeing up councils to focus on looking after the far more vital task of providing front line local services instead.”

The survey was launched in 2008 by the Labour government to give local councils "a citizen’s perspective" on services in their local area and to help councils to plan services. The second survey would have collected 13 national indicators and was planned to take place this autumn.

A spokesman for the CLG told regen.net that the department wrote to local authorities in June recommending they did not to proceed with preparations for the survey.