SPC submits formal complaint to WECA over A4 Keynsham consultation questionnaire

Saltford Parish Council (SPC) has submitted a formal complaint to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority (WECA) about the design and operation of its consultation questionnaire for the ‘A4 Bath to Bristol Strategic Corridor – Keynsham Section’.

At its October 2026 meeting, the Council considered a report identifying concerns about how the questionnaire enabled respondents to express their views and how it accommodated organisations such as parish councils.

SPC resolved to accept the report, submit it to WECA as a formal complaint, and seek a response addressing the matters raised. SPC also agreed to publish the report and provide links to related articles explaining its wider concerns about WECA’s consultation processes.

Please view a copy of the report at: Complaint Regarding WECA A4 Bath to Bristol Strategic Corridor – Keynsham Section Consultation

Concerns about the consultation questionnaire

SPC’s complaint focuses on three principal issues.

1. No explicit option to oppose proposals

The questionnaire’s principal response scale, in the section asking respondents for their thoughts on the proposals, offered four options:

  • 🔹 Very positive change
  • 🔹 Slightly positive change
  • 🔹 No positive change
  • 🔹 No opinion

SPC is concerned that the two positive options were not matched by an equivalent option for expressing opposition or identifying a negative impact.

In particular, the phrase “No positive change” could cover a range of views, from believing a proposal would make little difference to strongly opposing it. Without an explicit option to register opposition, SPC considers that the questionnaire may not adequately distinguish neutral views from negative ones or accurately measure the extent of opposition to individual proposals.

The complaint refers to (and references) recognised questionnaire-design guidance and asks WECA to explain the rationale for the response scale and how responses will be categorised, analysed and reported.

2. Limited provision for organisational responses

SPC is also concerned that the questionnaire appeared to be designed primarily for individuals rather than stakeholder organisations, including parish councils, businesses and community organisations.

Although the questionnaire allowed respondents to identify a response as being submitted on behalf of an organisation later in the process, earlier questions focused on personal circumstances and individual travel experiences.

SPC considers that consultation arrangements for a strategic transport corridor should provide a clear and accessible way for all relevant stakeholders to participate, including representative bodies speaking on behalf of their communities.

3. Mandatory questions prevented an online submission

When SPC attempted to submit its response, it found that it could not complete the online questionnaire without answering mandatory questions about individual travel behaviour that were not applicable to the Council as an organisation.

The questionnaire did not provide a suitable “not applicable”, “not relevant” or equivalent option to allow the Council to proceed.

SPC therefore submitted its consultation response separately by email and post to ensure that its views were formally communicated to WECA. These alternative submission methods were not presented on WECA’s consultation website as options for this consultation. As such there were concerns that SPC’s response would not be taken into account, or that others who needed to submit by post could have a more limited timeframe to do so to ensure responses were received by the consultation end date.

SPC is concerned that such barriers may discourage organisational participation and could affect the range of stakeholder views captured. It also considers that requiring answers to questions that do not apply to a respondent creates a risk of artificial or arbitrary responses.

What is SPC asking WECA to address?

Through its formal complaint, SPC is seeking clarification on the reasons for the questionnaire design and how WECA intends to account for the issues identified.

In particular, the Council is asking WECA to explain:

  • 🔹 Why the principal response scale did not provide explicit options for opposition or a balanced means of recording support, neutrality and opposition.
  • 🔹 How the questionnaire was designed to accommodate parish councils and other organisational respondents.
  • 🔹 Why certain questions about personal travel behaviour were mandatory, without an appropriate “not applicable” option.
  • 🔹 How responses submitted separately by SPC and other organisations will be recorded, analysed and included in the consultation findings.
  • 🔹 Whether WECA will distinguish between individual and organisational responses and explain how the quantitative results, including responses of “No positive change”, have been interpreted.

SPC’s report refers to established questionnaire-design principles as relevant context for these questions. The Council is not asserting that the questionnaire design necessarily invalidates the consultation or that WECA intended to influence its outcome.

Rather, SPC is seeking an explanation of the design decisions and how any limitations will be taken into account by WECA when the findings for the Keynsham Section – including the Keynsham Bypass proposals – are analysed and reported.

This complaint is about the consultation process, not the transport proposals

It is important to distinguish this complaint from SPC’s separate response to the transport proposals themselves.

In September 2026, SPC submitted its response to WECA’s A4 Bath to Bristol Strategic Corridor – Keynsham Section consultation, objecting to four proposals and seeking further evidence. That response addressed the substance of the proposals and their potential implications for traffic flow, journey times, network resilience and the wider A4 corridor.

The October 2026 item and subsequent complaint concerns a different, although related, matter: whether the consultation questionnaire provided a fair and effective means of recording the full range of views and enabling relevant organisations to participate.

Readers can find further information here:

Previous concerns about WECA consultations

This is not the first time SPC has raised concerns about WECA’s consultation arrangements.

Following the 2023 A4 Bath to Bristol consultation, the Council submitted a formal complaint about aspects of the consultation process. The concerns included the accessibility and navigation of the consultation website, the wording and presentation of the questionnaire, information being added after the consultation had opened, arrangements for written responses and the opportunity for residents to raise their concerns at a drop-in event.

SPC subsequently continued to raise questions about the consultation and the reporting of its findings.

Related articles on the Parish Council website include:

Formal concern raised with WECA over A4 Bath to Bristol consultation engagement in 2025:

Further to actions after WECA’s 2023 consultation, at its November 2025 meeting, Saltford Parish Council (SPC) resolved to submit a formal complaint to the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) regarding its engagement with Parish Councils during the A4 Bath to Bristol Consultation 2025. This consultation regarded the ‘Saltford section’ of the A4, including the proposed bus lane from the Broadmead Roundabout to the village – as such, SPC viewed that WECA should have directly contacted Saltford Parish Council about the consultation.

SPC’s complaint highlighted the failure to consult Saltford Parish Council and other Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Parish Councils directly. Instead, information about the consultation, including invitations to briefings and resident-facing publicity materials, had been circulated to individual Ward and Parish/Town Councillors, excluding Parish Council Proper Officers and staff from key communications. This impacted on consultations being formally considered by the Councils in a timely manner, as staff had not been made aware.

SPC had contacted WECA soon after the consultation opened to raise these concerns, providing the contact details of B&NES Parish Councils and information about standard consultation procedures. However, the Council remained concerned that the omission had not been addressed when WECA failed to consult Parish Councils directly.

The November 2025 resolution authorised a formal complaint to the WECA Mayor and Deputy Mayor, who at the time was also Leader of B&NES Council, with copies sent to relevant local government representatives and organisations. The complaint stressed that the failure to engage directly with Parish Councils raised concerns about the transparency and effectiveness of WECA’s approach to consultation and could lead to consideration of further action, including an application for judicial review.

Following extended correspondence, WECA subsequently agreed, around spring 2026, to use the B&NES Council mailing list to consult relevant Parish Councils directly in future. This represented an important step towards improving communication and ensuring that Parish Councils and their Proper Officers receive consultation information directly, enabling them to better inform and engage their communities. Saltford Parish Council was subsequently notified about the ‘Keynsham Section’ A4 Bath to Bristol consultation.

SPC’s resolution

The discussion and resolution about SPC’s most recent complaint about WECA consultations is recorded in the (currently draft) minutes of SPC’s October 2026 meeting, available through the Parish Council meetings, agendas and minutes page.

SPC has requested a response from WECA addressing the matters raised in the report.

The Council considers it important that consultation arrangements enable residents and representative organisations to express their views clearly and that the resulting findings provide a meaningful account of the range of opinions submitted.

SPC will share any response received from WECA to its formal complaint about the Keynsham Section questionnaire.

Screengrab of WECA's Have Your Say Keynsham Section consultation page, as of 14 October (after the consultation had closed).

Screengrab of WECA’s Have Your Say Keynsham Section consultation page, as of 14 October (after the consultation had closed).