APPENDIX 1
THE SURVEY
The response rate to the survey
The survey was sent to the Chief Executive of 352 local authorities in England responsible for compiling the electoral register on 22nd March 1999. A deadline of 12th April was set for the return of the survey. The chase up of non-respondents started on 19th April. Contact was made with all non-returning local authorities that were not due to hold elections in May (i.e. 32 London boroughs, eleven unitaries and a singular district council). Each local authority was telephoned on at least three separate occasions requesting their completed survey. 220 reminder surveys with an additional covering letter were sent to all non-responding authorities on 17th May 1999. A new deadline of 11th June was set. A third copy of the survey was sent to the Chief Executive of all non-responding local authorities on 15th June 1999, setting a final deadline of the 5th July 1999. We received a total of 250 completed surveys a response rate of 71%. Table A1 shows that the response rate by type of local authority varied by 9% between the District councils (69%) and the Metropolitan boroughs (78%). Table A2 shows the response rate according to the political control of the local authority following the May 1999 elections.
Table A1: The response rate to the survey by type of authority N Number of completed surveys Response rate (%) London boroughs 32 24 75 Metropolitan boroughs 36 28 78 Unitaries 46 34 74 District councils 238 164 69 Total 352 250 71
Table A2: The response rate to the survey by political control N Number of completed surveys Response rate (%) Labour councils 136 102 75 Conservative councils 66 42 64 Lib Dem councils 26 22 85 Other councils 10 6 60 No overall control 114 78 68 Total 352 250 71
Published 3 May 2000
Return to Local and Regional Government Index
Return to Homepage
Web site terms