Scottish Borders Council has found it necessary to 'correct' national data which appears to show public satisfaction with the region's libraries, museums and galleries is lower than in any of the other 31 local authority areas in Scotland.
According to the latest figures published on Scotland's Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) website only 52.3% of people give Borders libraries the thumbs up compared with an average 73% across Scotland. Between 2012 and 2015 the satisfaction level for local libraries stood at 66.3%, but even then the figure was well below the 80.3% Scottish median.
In the case of museums and galleries - like libraries now managed for the council by Live Borders - the LGBF rating is a dismal 40.7%, again the 'worst' in Scotland which enjoyed an average satisfaction level of 70%. Borders museums and galleries had an approval rating of 58% in the 2012-15 period against Scotland's average of 76.3%.
LGBF also includes figures for satisfaction with local leisure facilities, and here again Scottish Borders performs poorly at 59% (the second lowest percentage in the country) and trailing the average 72.7%. The data for 2012-15 awarded Borders a 68.7% approval rating in this category while Scotland averaged 78%.
Although it would seem Borders councillors should be concerned by the Framework statistics, the authority's Executive will hear on Tuesday (February 12th) that approval ratings for libraries and museums are in fact well over 80% with the standard of sports and leisure facilities satisfying 77% of local residents.
These levels of approval would place the region's culture and leisure services near the top of Scotland's league table but must confuse anyone who has taken the trouble to peruse LGBF's returns. So why are SBC's conclusions so radically different from those of the Benchmarking team?
The report which the council's influential Executive will have before them relates to the Scottish Borders Household Survey, conducted by the council in 2018. It includes the following passages:
"Local services managed by Live Borders (a) At first
glance the levels of satisfaction with services managed by Live Borders, on
behalf of the Council, appear to be low. However, the number of respondents that
do not have an opinion/don’t use the services does have a significant effect on
the results. When only the responses from those that expressed an opinion/use
the service are analysed satisfaction increased markedly.
"(b) The Scottish Borders Household Survey 2018 shows
satisfaction with sports and leisure facilities at 77%; satisfaction in the LGBF
is 59%. Similarly satisfaction with libraries is greater in our local survey
(86%) than the results from the national Scottish Household Survey used in the
LGBF (52%). Satisfaction with museums and galleries is 87% compared to 40% in
the LGBF."
Public doubts concerning the reliability of the figures will only be compounded when attention turns to satisfaction levels with local schools. In this case the Borders household survey produced a low 44% approval rating.
But the survey report explains: "Overall satisfaction with schools initially appears to
be low at 44% however when the ‘don’t know’ and ‘do not use’ responses are
discounted the overall satisfaction increases to 73%. These results are
favourable when measured against the Scottish Household Survey which shows
satisfaction with schools in the Scottish Borders as 62% and 70% for
Scotland."
However the LGBF says satisfaction with Borders schools stands at 67% (Scottish average 72.3%). Back in 2013/14 the Borders figure was 71.7% while the Scottish median was recorded as 81%.
The age old phrase "Lies, damned lies and statistics" may well apply in this case.
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