Boaters Survey Response

[Tuscan]

10 May 2016

 

BOAT OWNERS SURVEY SHOWS INCREASE IN SATISFACTION

 

The Canal & River Trusts latest Boat Owners Views survey shows an increase in the proportion of licence holders across England and Wales that trust the charity to look after the waterways. There is also a greater awareness of the Trusts activities and an increase in those who feel that resources are being spent where most needed.

 

63% of boaters said that they trust the charity to look after the waterways, up from 58% in 2014. The survey shows that there is variation across different demographics, with those with a home mooring or who use the waterways for leisure being most content.

 

Almost half the respondents (48%) now say they know the Trust very well or a fair amount, up from 35% in 2013/14. This suggests that the charity has improved its communications and is being more open and transparent, and potentially indicates that people have a greater understanding of the Trusts work beyond being simply a licence provider.

 

Boaters are also more likely to agree that the Trust priorities its spending on what I feel is most needed with 40% agreeing compared to 30% in 2014.

 

A working group is now taking an in-depth look at the results to see what needs to be improved upon and what is working well. The Trust will provide updates on any actions that will be taken as a result of the research.

 

Mike Grimes, head of boating at Canal & River Trust, said: The Boat Owners Views survey is really important to help understand whats working well and areas where we can improve things for boaters. Its heartening that a growing number of boaters have faith in us to look after the waterways for their benefit, but it is clear that there is still some way to go.

 

The survey also shows that theres a growing polarisation between boaters views. Licence holders have passionately held, often opposing opinions, and we will use the results to help us understand our customers differing needs. What boaters all have in common is the desire to protect our canals and rivers and preserve the right and ability to navigate them. This is at the core of our mission too and we must all work together to ensure we get the right balance.

 

The survey, which was sent to a third of the Trusts boat licence holders, was carried out by the independent research consultancy BDRC Continental between 25 February and 25 March 2016. It will be repeated each year with the aim of having contacted the majority of boaters on the Trusts waters in each three-year cycle.

 

ENDS

 

For further media requests please contact:

Fran Read, national press officer, Canal & River Trust

m 07796 610 427 e fran.read@canalrivertrust.org.uk

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------

Fran Read

National Press Officer

 

M 07796 610 427

Canal & River Trust, Toll House, Delamere Terrace, London, W2 6ND

Twitter: @CRTComms

 

The Canal & River Trust is a new charity entrusted with the care of 2,000 miles of waterways in England and Wales. Get involved, join us - Visit / Donate / Volunteer at www.canalrivertrust.org.uk - Sign up for our newsletter at www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/newsletter

Canal & River Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England & Wales with company number 7807276 and charity number 1146792. Registered office address First Floor North, Station House, 500 Elder Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 1BB.

 

Elusen newydd yw Glandŵr Cymru syn gofalu am 2,000 o filltiroedd o ddyfrffyrdd yng Nghymru a Lloegr. Cymerwch ran, ymunwch â ni - Ewch i Rhoddion a Gwirfoddoli yn www.glandwrcymru.org.uk

 

Mae Glandŵr Cymru yn gwmni cyfyngedig drwy warant a gofrestrwyd yng Nghymru a Lloegr gyda rhif cwmni 7807276 a rhif elusen gofrestredig 1146792. Swyddfa gofrestredig: First Floor North, Station House, 500 Elder Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 1BB.

[Alan de Enfield]

So - 60% of boaters still consider that C&RT is spending money in the wrong areas.

[BargeeSpud]

Thank goodness there are people like you willing to publish this sort of thing in the face of the shockingly prevalent apathy of people like me.

 

 

[Arthur Marshall]

So - 60% of boaters still consider that C&RT is spending money in the wrong areas.

I think that's to be expected, really. A fair proportion of boaters are probably unaware of the Trust's full remit, and the rest of us think that they should spend more on maintenance and less on prettying up and general publicity,so we're going to say so, even if we know that in fact we're wrong and they are forced to waste valuable resources on what seems to us to be nonsense.

[Ray T]

So - 60% of boaters still consider that C&RT is spending money in the wrong areas.

 

The figures published are only for a third of boaters. one third are being surveyed each year. This is not the full picture.

[Athy]

 

The figures published are only for a third of boaters. one third are being surveyed each year. This is not the full picture.

But it is large enough to be a representative sample.

[Idunhoe]

I confess to being very cynical where surveys are concerned as in my humble opinion the questions being asked and the way those questions are worded will determine the outcome of the survey.

[cuthound]

Provided the same questions, worded in the same way are asked each year, they can be useful.

 

What would concern me is the subtle change going of the wording to questions where the outcome was not what CRT wanted.

[KroSha]

But it is large enough to be a representative sample.

That would depend on how many of the 10k surveys were returned. If they only got 4k replies, then ~2.5k out of 10K trust CRT to do their job, with ~1.5k not trusting and the other 6k unknown.

[BruceinSanity]

But it is large enough to be a representative sample.

AIUI, it was a random third of the population in question, which should be fine. But if one of my teams was running such a survey (back in the days when I still had a job) we'd run post hoc analyses to check that the responding users were similar to the main pop on relevant characteristics such as economic status, type of boater, age profile and so on.

 

That way, you can put your hand on your heart and quote confidence levels for the results.

[Allan(nb Albert)]

AIUI, it was a random third of the population in question, which should be fine. But if one of my teams was running such a survey (back in the days when I still had a job) we'd run post hoc analyses to check that the responding users were similar to the main pop on relevant characteristics such as economic status, type of boater, age profile and so on.

 

That way, you can put your hand on your heart and quote confidence levels for the results.

From memory of the 2014 B.O.A.T. survey, BDRC Continental weight the survey responses to give the appropriate ratio of replies by licence type and geographic region. They also published industry standard confidence levels regarding the replies.

 

4,000 were polled with 15% responding.

 

Dean Davies, then interim Head of Customer Services informed the board -

 

This new regular tracker survey is to monitor attitudes and ‘advocacy' amongst boaters and identify the key drivers affecting it. The key results from wave one are:

Familiarity—two thirds (65%) of boaters say they know very little about what we do; this indicates we need to promote a better understanding of the varied work of the Trust.

Respect—only one in four (24%) boaters say they feel respected by the Trust; this will help drive the changes to our engagement, tone and ‘culture'.

 

 

 

It looks like it is the 'Familiarity' figure that CaRT are claiming that they have improved on.

 

I can't recall if the 'Respect' question was asked in the 2016 survey.

[KroSha]

I emailed Fran Read, to ask how many responses they had to the survey. I think it's an important part of evaluating the validity of the data.

 

1024 responses.

 

I think that's too small a sample to be making the inferences that they are. It'd be truer to state that "645 boaters said that they trust the charity to look after the waterways, 378 didn't, and the other 9000 didn't reply."

[Guest]

Quelle surprise, boaters without a home mooring are less satisfied than those with.......

 

I wonder why that would be?

[Allan(nb Albert)]

I emailed Fran Read, to ask how many responses they had to the survey. I think it's an important part of evaluating the validity of the data.

 

1024 responses.

 

I think that's too small a sample to be making the inferences that they are. It'd be truer to state that "645 boaters said that they trust the charity to look after the waterways, 378 didn't, and the other 9000 didn't reply."

That's the 'Council Election Effect'. Over time boaters are becoming disinclined to support CaRT by voting or completing a survey.

 

Last time round 15% responded to a survey. This time only 10% did.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

 

But it is large enough to be a representative sample.

Indeed, and let's face it if they surveyed everybody they would castigated in some quarters for wasting licence payers money...

 

"when a representative sample would have sufficed"