Public Services Survey

The public support the transfer of some services currently run by central government to local councils, with local government being seen as best placed to provide some services for local communities according to recent Ipsos research for Ernst and Young, UK.

Only around 30% of the public sees the Government and Parliament as good at taking into account their views, three in five people (60%) think the government is poor at this. In contrast almost as many (57%) say their local Council is good at taking their views into account, whilst nearly 70% think that directly elected councillors for health, education, and policing would also be good in this respect.

Almost three quarters (72%) think that local government is best placed to provide local services like schools, refuse collection and care of older people, whereas only 10% feel this is true of central government. More than half (54%) think that control of some centrally run services should be transferred to local councils, however, support for local control ebbs away if it means a higher than otherwise increase in council tax. In terms of policing, almost two thirds (60%) feel that the chief constable of their local police force should have responsibility for setting crime reduction priorities in their local area. This is in preference to council members or a locally elected mayor. The public are sceptical about a local mayor's ability to run their local authority, two in five feeling that there would be no difference in the way it was run, the remainder split 25% better, 18% worse. The prospect of a local mayor doesn't seem to encourage people to vote at a local level either, 48% saying the would be likely to vote in a normal local council election this May, but only 41% if it were to choose a locally elected mayor.

Research was carried out on Ipsos's Social Issues Omnibus for Ernst & Young as part of a series of papers looking at the major challenges in transforming our public services.

Public Services Survey Presentation Slides pdf, 41KB

Topline Results

• Ipsos interviewed 1,869 adults aged 15+ across Great Britain.
• Interviews were conducted face-to-face between 23-27 November 2006.
• Data are weighted to match the known profile of the population.
• The base for all questions is 1,869 British adults unless stated otherwise.
• Where percentages do not sum to 100, this may be due to computer rounding, the exclusion of "don't know" categories, or multiple answers.
• Throughout the volume, an asterisk (*) denotes any value of less than half a per cent.

Q1-6 I am going to read out a list of public services. From what you know or have heard, please tell me how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with the way each service is provided in your local area.

Q7-13 How good or poor would you say each of the following are at taking into account the views of the public?

Q14 At present, decision making in most local councils is done by a Cabinet and a Council Leader chosen by the Councillors that have been elected to the Council by local people.

Some people have suggested that local people should be able to vote for a team of specific individual councillors who would each have overall responsibility for a particular service -- like education or social services - in the area. On balance do you think this would be a good or bad idea?

Q15-17 And how good or poor do you think each of the following would be at taking into account the views of the public?

Q18 In some areas of Britain there are now directly elected mayors, chosen by local people, who have overall control of their local council.

Do you think that a directly elected mayor would be better, worse or about the same as local elected councillors at running your local authority?

SPLIT SAMPLE: Half of the sample were asked this question with 'a local elected mayor' in response options, and the other half without this option.

Q19a Which of the following should have most responsibility for setting the crime reduction priorities in your area?

Q19b Which of the following should have most responsibility for setting the crime reduction priorities in your area?

Q20 How strongly would you support or oppose control of some of the services which are currently run by central government being transferred to your local council?

Q21 And how strongly would you support or oppose control of some of the services which are currently run by central government being transferred to local council if it meant that your council tax rose faster than it would have done otherwise?

Q22 In your view, which one of the following is best placed to provide local services like schools, refuse collection and care of older people to a high standard for local communities?

Q23 In some parts of the country there will be local council elections in May next year. If there were elections for your local council in your area next year, on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 means you would be absolutely certain to vote, and 1 means that you would be absolutely certain not to vote?

Q24 In some parts of the country there will be local council elections in May next year. If there were elections to choose for a locally elected mayor in your area next year, on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 means you would be absolutely certain to vote, and 1 means that you would be absolutely certain not to vote?