Katie Day, Policy and Communications DirectorWe are delighted to publish our 2021 stakeholder survey results which continue to show our stakeholders have confidence that we are delivering our mission, that our regulation is evidence-based and that we have effective working relationships with those we engage with.
Stakeholder feedback through our most recent survey has also shown that perceptions of ONR remained positive through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The results show we remain positively viewed as professional (93%), independent (88%) and trusted (84%), which stakeholder feedback and insight has consistently told us are important to inspiring confidence: that is why we prioritised them in our Stakeholder Engagement Strategy 2020-25 which underpins our organisational strategy.
We’re here to protect society by securing safe nuclear operations, and that means we must build and maintain trust and confidence in what we do. Inspiring stakeholder confidence has been more important than ever during the pandemic, as we’ve had to find new ways of engaging our stakeholders – and to be assured that nuclear operations have remained safe and secure despite the challenges brought by COVID-19.
We’re particularly pleased to see that 72% of our stakeholders believed that our regulation has been effective during the pandemic, with a number of stakeholders very complimentary about how we’ve adapted as an organisation, and how we’ve utilised technology to conduct remote inspections, where possible.
While the results were largely very positive, the survey highlighted some areas that we recognise require our continued focus and attention. We prioritised those when we published our Stakeholder Engagement Strategy last autumn, and are committed to turning that action into intent over the next four years to make a difference.
67% of stakeholders agreed we were ‘proportionate’ – a 9% improvement on our 2019 survey but still lower than we would like. This is an area that we will continue to focus on to drive further improvements in our regulation. And while 84% of respondents said our information, guidance and advice was accessible, they asked we make some of our reports clearer. Better use of plain English to help improve accessibility, as well as making our website easier to navigate and more user centric, are priorities in our stakeholder strategy.
The survey also highlighted that we need to do more to improve our efficiency, with just 38% of those surveyed agreeing we have efficient ways of working. Modernising how we work is fundamental in our strategic intent to 2025. And we are on a journey of streamlining our processes and introducing technology to help us work better and more efficiently.
Stakeholder insight and views are invaluable to us as they help us to shape our regulation and our organisation, so thank you to those who took part in this year’s survey.
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This year’s survey was conducted by YouGov and drew 262 responses from a range of different organisations including nuclear site operators, government, public bodies/agencies, NGOs and academic institutions. As part of our commitment to listening to and understanding the views of our stakeholders, we undertake a survey on an annual basis to enable us to monitor trends and patterns over time.