Neighbourliness
10.65 A broader assessment of the extent to which people in the South West connect with each other can be derived from the Communities and Local Government 2005 Citizenship Survey. This asked respondents to give their views about their neighbourhood and to indicate how close-knit they felt their communities to be. The results suggest that communities in the South West have strong connections and are among the most neighbourly of the English regions.
10.66 The survey found that 22% of people said that the neighbourhood pulled together to improve it. This was the joint highest score of any English region and exceeded the level for England as a whole. South West residents also gave the highest score of any English region (91%) in agreeing that “people in their neighbourhood are willing to help their neighbours” (compared to the England average of 88%). 72% of adults also considered that their community was close-knit. Again, this was the highest score of any English region and was some way above the level for England (65%).
10.67 There was also strong evidence that people in the South West mixed freely with each other irrespective of whether or not they came from similar backgrounds. Of the South West respondents, 84% of adults agreed that people from different backgrounds got on well together. This was the highest percentage of any English region and exceeded the England average of 80%. 86% of respondents in the South West also said that residents respect ethnic differences between people.