Government’s Citizenship Survey results published today reflect some familiar trends but there are also some surprising findings that support new thinking on empowerment, active citizenship and community cohesion.

The figures for April-June 2009 published today show that in England:

• fewer people (about 1 in 3) feel able to influence local decisions
• there’s been an even steeper decline in the proportion of people who feel they can influence national decisions
• fewer people are taking part in civic life.

The results also show that:

• White people are less likely than Black or Minority Ethnic people to feel they can influence local or national decisions
• Older people feel more excluded from decision making than young people
• levels of volunteering remain more or less constant.

Community Empowerment

The percentage of people who feel able to influence the decisions which affect them continues to decline.  This is the NI4 measure – included as a national indicator for use in Local Area Agreements.  The proportion of people who feel locally empowered has crashed 20% in the 8 years since 2001.  The number that feel they can influence national decision making has slumped even more – down 24% in just 8 years.

Detailed results show that it is White people who feel least empowered:

Feel they can influence

local decisions                     national decisions

BME                           44%                            31%

White                         34%                            16%

And people over 75 feel less empowered than younger people:

Feel they can influence

local decisions                     national decisions

16-24                          39%                            21%

Over 75                      24%                            10%

Sikhs and Muslims are more likely than Christians or atheists to feel they can influence the decisions affecting them.

Active Citizenship

The proportion of citizens actively engaging in decision making about local services has not changed significantly.  The survey found just over one in ten (11%) of people were directly involved to some degree in such decisions.  The numbers taking part in consultation about local services are likewise static  - 20% in 2009, the same level as in 2005.  But the number of people engaging more widely in civic participation – eg contacting a councillor, attending a public meeting or signing a petition – has started to decline.  The 2009 survey found 34% compared with 38% last year.  The figure stood at 38% in 2001.

White people are more likely to take part than BME people: 35% and 24% respectively.  Atheists are more likely to take part than faith groups – 40% as opposed to 33% of Christians and 23% of Muslims.

Volunteering

Despite the priority given to get people volunteering again, levels of volunteering in England remain fairly static:  43% of adults volunteered formally at least once in the 12 months prior to interview in 2009, with 28% having volunteered formally at least once a month; 57% of adults volunteered informally at least once in the 12 months prior to interview, with 33% having done so at least once a month.  African Caribbean and Mixed Race people are most likely to volunteer formally (49%).

Community Cohesion

In the latest Citizenship Survey, 83% of people thought their community was cohesive, agreeing that their local area was a place where people from different backgrounds got on well together.   This is NI1 in the National Indicator set used in Local Area Agreements.  Although the 2009 figure is up on  2003 and 2005 (both 80%),  it is not significantly different from the findings in 2007-08 (82%) and 2008-09 (84%).   Perceptions of cohesion were generally higher among older age groups.  For example, 90 per cent of those aged 75 years and over thought their local area was cohesive compared with 78 per cent of those aged 16 to 24 years.  Regionally, neighbourhoods in the East Midlands were the most cohesive (89%) and North West England was the region with the smallest proportion (77%) agreeing that people from different backgrounds get on well.

The survey found no significant change in the degree to which people felt a sense of ‘belonging’ to the place they live.  This is NI2 in the indicator set used in Local Area Agreements.

The Citizenship Survey is run by Ipsos MORI and BMRB on behalf of government.  It is based on face-to-face interviews. The Citizenship Survey has been commissioned every two years since 2001. The survey has now moved to a continuous design, which means it will provide updated figures every three months.  The survey findings can be downloaded from CLG website.