Forum Feedback and Future 2024

The 32nd Hampshire Perspectives survey ‘Forum Feedback and Future’ was conducted between 9 and 23 May 2024 to help shape the content and structure of our ongoing conversations with the forum and facilitate future involvement. It revisited some questions from a previous survey around forum participation conducted in September 2021, to inform ongoing understanding of members’ experiences.

The survey was completed by 611 forum members, with key findings as follows:

What motivates members to participate in the forum?

There was mixed awareness of the project summaries and annual ‘You Said, We Did’ packs that are emailed to members and displayed on the forum website to show feedback results and how they have influenced actions. Most of those who had read summaries found them useful and interesting, but for the minority who were aware but had not read them, time pressures and insufficient linkage were barriers.

How do they find the experience of being a forum member?

Forum members like that surveys are easy to complete and that it’s not compulsory to take part in every project. This was particularly important for younger members.

Most members were happy with survey length and frequency, despite a recent pause during the Future Services Consultation when frequency dipped below the usual average of one survey per month.

Topic range, interest and relevance could be improved; although 80%-90% of responding members were happy with the topics covered, a notably smaller proportion were ‘very happy’. There are particular opportunities to improve engagement for male and younger forum members, which we’ll be looking into for future projects.

What County-Council services would members most like the opportunity to feedback on in future?

The topics that are relevant differ to some degree for older vs younger respondents, but generally topics of most interest to people are those that are accessible to everyone in Hampshire, such as highways, waste services, parks and outdoor spaces, Public Health services and libraries. There were also high levels of interest in formal consultations around proposed changes to services.

Reflecting these views, the autumn 2024 survey schedule will seek feedback on a number of universally applicable topics, such as parking and ceremonies.