B.4 Local Government

50. We asked a few questions (L.1 – L.5) about people’s perceptions of the Leicestershire County Council, Charnwood Borough Council and the Barrow Parish Council. For example, do people know who are their local representatives and do they think they are aware of local issues?

• County: 34% know them and 11% think they are aware of local issues
• Borough: 46% know them and 18% think they are aware of local issues
• Parish: 52% know them and 30% think they are aware of local issues

51. On the face of it, it is a relief that more people know about the Parish Council than the County Council but it does seem to show considerable ignorance or apathy. That said, 35 people said that they would like to know more about the Parish Council and that they may want to join. The details have been passed to the Parish council.

52. Also, we asked if people would be willing to pay more in their village precept in order to get more improvements in the village. This is against the context that, over the years, there has been a belief in Barrow that the precept should be kept low. We wanted factual evidence for or against.

• 27% said they would not be willing to pay more to fund some of the improvements explored in the questionnaire (N.1) but a larger number, 49%, said that they would accept a rise in the precept.

• Of those willing to pay more, the offers ranged from £1 pa to £50 pa with the average rise being £6.62 pa.