Community activists from Hackney IWCA (Hackney Independent as of summer 2004) today criticised Hackney Council over "thousands of pounds wasted" on a MORI survey. The council have employed researchers from MORI, the well-known opinion pollsters, to carry out a survey on people's views of council services on Hackney's estates.

Hackney IWCA (Hackney Independent as of summer 2004) spokesman Peter Sutton stated "The council has its priorities all wrong. While they're slashing the budgets of voluntary groups and closing down our public facilities, they obviously think they can waste thousands of pounds on this type of PR exercise".

He added "If Hackney Council really want to know what people think of them and their services they only have to listen to the tenants on the neglected estates of the borough. Our own surveys indicate that over 80% of people think Hackney Council do a bad job and that one of the biggest concerns is the increasing lack of facilities".

Hackney IWCA (Hackney Independent as of summer 2004) has been engaged in a survey (costing nothing!) for the last three months over 20 estates in south Hackney and Shoreditch, asking local people what their concerns are. Topping the list of issues is crime and anti-social behaviour, closely followed by worries over the lack of local facilities - the same local facilities that the council have put on their hitlist to be sold off.

Peter Sutton concludes "Hackney Council are a disgrace. We never see our councillors on our estates anyway, but now they're paying other people to come round for them - to find out information most people could tell them for nothing".