A recently published survey has highlighted areas where Merton Council is failing in the eyes of the people it serves.

The 2019 residents survey - which was released earlier this month - asked 1000 people aged 18 and over as well as 271 between the ages of 11 and 17, to list their satisfaction levels in a range of topics.

Notable findings included a 12 per cent decrease in residents believing the council acts on their concerns and an 11 per cent reduction in residents feeling informed about the services and benefits the council provides.

In addition to this, there has been a 12 per cent drop in residents saying the council is efficient and well run and a 12 per cent point drop in residents believing the council is doing a good job.

But most eye-opening of all was that less than half (47 per cent) of residents are satisfied with how litter is dealt with, which is a 13 per cent decrease since 2017.

Merton Conservative group leader, Nick McLean, said the results were "all too predictable."

"It is clear that the administration has lost the trust of the public following their disastrous decision to appoint Veolia," he said.

"The council and their contractor have totally lost control of refuse collection, recycling and street cleaning which has still not been brought under control after almost an entire year.

"It is time for the Labour administration to finally listen to local residents and take immediate action to clean the boroughs streets and pavements, and ensure that Veolia collects the rubbish on time."

But it isn't all doom and gloom.

According to the report there have been marked improvements in the views of other council services, including nursery, primary and secondary education, libraries and street lighting, and the Merton results consistently compare well against the LGA national polling data.

Leader of the council, Stephen Alambritis, said: “The actual findings of the residents’ survey, which show overall satisfaction with the council rising once again, bear little resemblance to the Conservatives’ comments. This just goes to show how out of touch they are.

"Satisfaction with the council actually rose to 70 per cent (up from 67 per cent in 2017), compared to 60 per cent in the rest of the country, and despite the survey taking place during the

most disruptive period of the introduction of our new wheeled bin service, the overall score still rose, so it’s clear residents think we’re helping make Merton a great place for families."

Here is a list of the key performance indicators that people were surveyed on, with satisfaction levels in 2019 first, satisfaction levels in 2017 second and finally the LGA October 2018 national benchmark figure:

  • Satisfaction with the local area - 89% - 92% - 78%
  • Satisfaction with the way the council runs things - 70% - 67% - 60%
  • Agreement that the council provides value for money - 56% - 65% - 44%
  • Council acts on the concerns of local residents - 63% - 75% - 56%
  • Feel informed about council services and benefits - 70% - 81% - 58%
  • Safety after dark - 84% - 85% - 76%
  • Safety during the day - 98% - 96% - 93%