Despite Ceredigion County Council blowing its own trumpet in a series of press releases saying how well-run it is, a council-run survey has found that 82 per cent of residents are ‘dissatisfied with the way the authority runs things’, with 90 per cent saying the council ignores residents’ views when making decisions, and 83 per cent saying they do not trust the authority.

Last year, the county council launched the Ceredigion’s National Residents’ Survey, named the Living in Ceredigion consultation, to seek views of local residents on how the council is doing.

It came just days after voting to close a care home, charge for parking on Aberystwyth promenade and plans were unveiled to close four rural schools.

Those and many other issues have caused backlash across the county from councillors, residents and businesses, with the Cambrian News flooded with messages from readers castigating the council over their handling of closures, service cuts and council tax rises.

Since the turn of the year, Ceredigion County Council have found in a self-assessment of its performance that it is doing an ‘excellent’ job for the county, while an independent panel led by the Welsh Local Government Association found the authority to be “well-run.”

Now, however, the results of the Living in Ceredigion consultation have been released on the county council’s website, and they do not make great reading for council bosses.

The consultation, which received 1.961 responses, found that 82 per cent of people were very or fairly dissatisfied with the way Ceredigion County Council runs things.

Just nine per cent said they were very or fairly satisfied.

Asked ‘how much do you trust Ceredigion County Council’, a total of 84 per cent of residents said ‘not very much’ or ‘not at all’, with ‘not at all’ recorded by more than half of respondents.

Asked if the council provides services of a high quality, 41 per cent said ‘not very much’ and 35 per cent said ‘not at all.’

80 per cent of those who responded said the council does not keep residents well informed about services, and 81 per cent disagreeing that the council provides value for money.

Just 17 per cent said they were well informed, and just 16 per cent said the council provides value for money.

A huge 90 per cent of people surveyed said that the council does not take residents’ views into account when making a decision, while 88 per cent of residents said the council does not act on the concerns of local residents.

Those surveyed were most critical of the council’s highways service with 71 per cent fairly or very dissatisfied; waste management, with 58 per cent fairly or very dissatisfied; planning and building control, with 57 per cent fairly or very dissatisfied; and leisure services with 56 per cent fairly or very dissatisfied.

Almost three quarters of residents said they were dissatisfied by the council’s work on economic development.

63 per cent of people disagreed that ‘contacting the council is simple’, with 57 per cent disagreeing that accessing up to date information about council services is easy.

61 per cent of those surveyed disagreed that their local area is well looked after, with 53 per cent disagreeing their local area has a clean environment.

Despite the performance of the county council taking a bashing from residents in the survey, outside of the workings of the local authority people have a very high opinion of the county and the people who live here.

73 per cent of people reported that people in their local area get on well and help each other, while more than half agreed that people in the local area ‘pull together to improve the local area.

66 per cent felt they felt part of their local area, while 84 per cent of residents say they feel safe in their area during day and 64 per cent after dark.

Two thirds of those who responded to the survey said they would recommend Ceredigion as a place to live.

57 per cent said they were very or fairly satisfied with their local area as a place to live.

The report says: “Ceredigion’s National Residents’ Survey was called “Living in Ceredigion” and was the first to be run nationally.

“The consultation was designed to record a snapshot of three themes covering life in Ceredigion, experiences of accessing council services and perceptions of the council, and citizens’ understanding of the role of local councillors.

“The results of the consultation will be used to specifically inform the next round of self-assessment but also to inform the work of the council generally.”

Earlier this month, Ceredigion came out joint-top in the Welsh Local Authority Performance Table.

Compared to the other 21 Local Authorities in Wales, Ceredigion has the second highest number of performance measures in the best 25 per cent, and the joint highest number of performance measures in the top 50 per cent.

It followed a self-assessment from the council that found ‘excellent progress’ against benchmarks and an independent panel finding that Ceredigion council was working well within financial constraints.

Ceredigion County Council’s leader Cllr Bryan Davies said there was a “clear disconnect” between perceptions [of residents] and the findings of independent performance reports.

“The results of this independent Local Performance Profile re-enforces the findings of the Ceredigion self-assessment,” he said.

“The National Resident's Survey has also provided us with an extremely valuable insight into the matters and issues that concern our residents.

“There is a clear disconnect between perceptions and the findings of independent performance reports, which may be in part due to the crippling financial challenges facing all local authorities, and consultations being held at the time when the council was considering possible savings to the council’s budget.

“However it is important to note that we as a council are asking how residents feel about our services, and we will be reviewing any specific issues raised in the survey in order to improve the services that we are able to deliver.”