Public Want Better Frontline Services and More Say on What They Are

New Zealanders say better public services are needed and want more say on what they should be.

Most people (61%) agree that the public service needs to deliver better frontline services and that it will mean changing how things are done now. Slightly more (64%) agree that the public should have more say in deciding what public services should be provided and how.

In a clear message to senior bureaucrats, only 22% agreed that the experts who run and manage our public services are in the best position to decide what services should be provided and how.

These findings are from a UMR Research survey of a nationally representative sample of 750 New Zealanders aged 18 years and over . They were asked questions after being told that the Government has said it wants better frontline services but that there is no extra money available and in some areas possibly less.

More people (45%) agreed that better frontline services could be provided without providing more money by cutting waste compared with 25% who disagreed. And only a quarter (26%) agreed that frontline services were run efficiently and that it would be difficult to achieve better frontline services without more money.

Even fewer (22%) agreed that frontline services only needed minor changes.

And most people (54%) were not confident that public service managers would improve frontline services without additional funding.

“There is a compelling message here for public sector managers to listen to the public.
They might get some ideas on how to improve frontline services from this,” a UMR executive director Tim Grafton said.

ENDS

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