23 May 2003
Growing mistrust of public bodies is being prompted by suspicions that they are not open and honest with service users, the Audit Commission has warned.
Research by pollster Mori has found that, while trust in individual members of staff remains high, the public is becoming increasingly critical of the level of information made available by public sector bodies.
The survey uncovered a widespread feeling among respondents that these organisations lack openness when they have made mistakes: 67% said this was the case. Meanwhile, 53% said the bodies did not learn from such mistakes.
There were also doubts about the quality of management and leadership in the public sector, with 52% characterising it as weak. Fifty-three per cent of respondents said public sector bodies provide poor information to the public about their performance.
Commission chair James Strachan said the findings set out in the report, Trust in the public sector, threw down 'a clear challenge' to the sector to show its willingness to change.
He also said regulators had an important role to play in stemming the tide of mistrust threatening public services.
'Strategic regulation focuses on those areas of public service where the need for improvement is greatest. It also needs to find new and better ways of communicating with the public.
'This is increasingly critical, with the public becoming less inclined to accept government and public bodies' own reporting.'
Local authorities came out particularly badly in the survey: 48% said they were not trusted. By comparison, just 24% said the same of the police and 18% of hospitals.
Councils also fared less well when measured on the quality of their services: 40% rated them as good, compared with 60% for the police and 70% for hospitals.
Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, vice chair of the Local Government Association, said its members were 'determined to improve' their public image.
But he argued that government ministers' criticisms of authorities, such as the recent rows over education funding and council tax increases, damaged them unfairly.
'There is a major gulf between the public perception of individual council services, which are generally high, and their perception of the council as an institution, which is often poor,' he added.
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