Community Life Survey: information for survey participants
Information about being selected to take part in the Community Life Survey.
Applies to England
I have received a letter inviting me to participate in the Community Life Survey. How can I check if it is genuine?
The survey is delivered by Verian on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Verian will be able to confirm whether your letter is genuine and that you have been selected to take part. You can contact them by freephone on 0800 158 2952 or email communitylifesurvey@veriangroup.com with the reference number from your survey invitation letter.
You can also contact the DCMS Community Life Survey team for further information at: communitylifesurvey@dcms.gov.uk.
How do I redeem my voucher?
Once you have completed the survey you will be directed to a voucher website, where you can choose from a variety of different shopping vouchers. If you complete the survey using a paper questionnaire, a voucher will be posted to you once we have received the completed questionnaire.
If you would like help redeeming or using the voucher you can email the Verian survey help team at communitylifesurvey@veriangroup.com.
Overview
The Community Life Survey covers a range of topics including community empowerment, engagement and cohesion, civic engagement, volunteering, social action, charitable giving, subjective wellbeing and loneliness.
For the 2023/24 and 2024/25 survey years, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has partnered with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to boost the Community Life Survey to be able to produce meaningful estimates at Local Authority level. Verian (formerly Kantar Public) deliver the survey on behalf of DCMS and MHCLG.
We need people from all age groups and backgrounds to take part. No matter how active you are in your community, your views are important to us to make sure we have a representative picture of the communities that people live in.
The survey data is used to produce and publish statistics which are used by the government, charities and other public sector organisations to track trends over time and inform decision making. The data may also be used by other government departments or other organisations to produce statistics to inform policy making.
Being chosen to take part
Residential addresses are randomly selected from the Post Office’s list of addresses in England, so that the results reflect the experiences and views of the whole population.
If you have been selected to take part, you will have received a letter which will include your reference number and password, as well as instructions about how to take part.
We would be very grateful if you would take the time to complete the survey online. You can do so at commlife.co.uk and you will need your reference number and password which you can find on your survey invitation letter. If you would prefer to fill in a paper version of the questionnaire, you can request this by calling the Verian survey helpline on 0800 158 2952 or email communitylifesurvey@veriangroup.com and they will arrange for a paper version to be posted to your household.
Up to four adults aged 16 or over can take part per household.
Who is conducting the survey
Verian (formerly Kantar Public) is carrying out the survey on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
More information about Verian Group
Confidentiality
The statistics produced will not identify you or anyone in your household. Your answers will be combined with those of all others who take part in the survey. Your name and contact details will only be known to the team processing the survey results at Verian, and the relevant data controllers of this information. We will not pass on your details to any organisation without your agreement, unless otherwise listed in the Privacy Notice for the survey. De-identified survey information may be provided to other government departments, and approved partner organisations or researchers for statistical purposes only. All information will be processed in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulation for the performance of official authority and public interest.
Data Protection and Privacy Notice
For general information on how DCMS handles personal data, please read DCMS’s personal information charter.
More detailed information about how your personal data is processed, as well as your rights under the data protection legislation, is available in the Privacy Notice for the Community Life Survey.
For any data protection queries please contact the DCMS Data Protection Officer at the following postal and email addresses:
DPO
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ
Email: dpo@dcms.gov.uk
The Information Commissioner’s Office has produced a guide to your rights. If you are not happy with the way we are processing your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office about our practices, or you can call their helpline on 0303 123 1113.
Enquiries
For general queries about the questionnaire and survey outputs, please contact the Community Life Survey team at DCMS: communitylifesurvey@dcms.gov.uk
Updates to this page
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Added in Data Protection section providing information about the Privacy Notice for the survey.
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First published.