Public Consultation 1: Results and Findings
Report
Our first public consultation has closed. Thank you to everyone who responded. There were ten answers to the biscuit and visiting questions, but only nine to the tea and Committee questions. We cannot establish whether the same person omitted both, or whether two people each felt that one question was sufficient.
The results are displayed below.
What should we make if you ask for “the usual”?
Six people chose tea with milk and no sugar. Three chose tea with milk and one sugar. Neither black tea option received a vote.
This gives us a reasonably clear answer. If somebody asks for “the usual” without further explanation, tea with milk and no sugar would satisfy two-thirds of those who responded. It would disappoint the remaining third, but only by one sugar, which can be added.
Making it with sugar first would be harder to correct. There is therefore both a democratic and a practical argument for leaving it out.
All nine respondents wanted milk. The milk rota remains more important than any disagreement about sugar.
Which biscuits should not be allowed to run out?
Custard Creams received four votes, Digestives three, Rich Tea two and Bourbons one.
Custard Creams came first, although six of the ten respondents preferred something else. The result supports keeping a supply of Custard Creams; it does not support replacing all other biscuits with them.
The narrow difference between Custard Creams and Digestives is also worth considering when buying stock. One additional Digestive vote would have produced a tie. We should probably continue buying both rather than treating this as a decisive rejection of the Digestive.
Bourbons received one vote. Jean may have a view on their general popularity.
Why are people visiting the website?
Eight people were just looking around. One wanted information about events and one wanted visiting information. Nobody selected “No idea”.
Most respondents therefore appear to be browsing rather than arriving with a particular task. This helps explain why the most viewed document on the website is about a gutter inspection.
Is there anything to raise with the Committee?
One person said “Yes”, four said “No” and four said “Not at this time”.
It would be convenient to report this as eight people having no concerns. That is not quite what they said. Four gave an unqualified “No”; the other four left open the possibility of raising something later.
We therefore have one known concern of unknown subject, four people with nothing to raise and four whose position may develop.
If you selected “Yes”, please send us the details. We cannot respond usefully to the existence of a concern alone.
What follows from this?
The clearest finding is that the standard brew should contain milk and leave sugar to the recipient. Biscuit preferences are more divided, and continued variety looks sensible. Most website respondents are browsing, but a smaller number need straightforward access to practical information.
These are ten responses, rather than a complete account of public opinion.
Geoff Thomas
Caretaker & website maintainer
