The report - A Playlist for Public Services - was published by the National Consumer Council, a public body that aims to safeguard the interests of customers, and looked at peoples' experiences of public services in the UK. It then gave consumer's satisfaction ratings to services including galleries and museums, police, local government and sport and leisure.
Museums and galleries scored the highest rating with 95 per cent of visitors surveyed saying they were satisfied with the service offered by museums and galleries. Sport and leisure came off the worst at 45 per cent, while local government scored 55 per cent and libraries 67 per cent.
Ed Mayo, the NCC chief executive, said: 'We can only take the museums and galleries' high rating to be a tribute to those who work in the sector.'
However, concerns about the way the data was collected have already been raised. The data was sourced from research done by each sector. For example, the museums data was compiled from visitor statistics at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, while the sports, local government and libraries data came from Best Value user satisfaction surveys.
Sue Howley, the head of research and evidence at the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, said: 'We have deep concerns about the way the rankings have been obtained.' She said they were 'misleading' because the data is presented as if it is comparing like with like.
Howley also pointed out that visitor surveys, particular those done by the institutions themselves, return high figures. She said the figures were unusable.
Mayo conceded: 'There are lots of apples and pears in the statistics. We would recommend a more consistent approach to data gathering across public services.' He said that the Cabinet Office plans to look at creating a common measurement tool.
Howley said although the ratings were dubious, the wider report, which sets out a blueprint to build 'world-class public services', was useful. 'We welcome any work that aims to increase our understanding of people's attitudes to public services.'
The NCC research found customers' confidence in their ability to use the service was the single most important factor when it came to using
public services.
Felicity Heywood
Museums and galleries scored the highest rating with 95 per cent of visitors surveyed saying they were satisfied with the service offered by museums and galleries. Sport and leisure came off the worst at 45 per cent, while local government scored 55 per cent and libraries 67 per cent.
Ed Mayo, the NCC chief executive, said: 'We can only take the museums and galleries' high rating to be a tribute to those who work in the sector.'
However, concerns about the way the data was collected have already been raised. The data was sourced from research done by each sector. For example, the museums data was compiled from visitor statistics at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, while the sports, local government and libraries data came from Best Value user satisfaction surveys.
Sue Howley, the head of research and evidence at the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, said: 'We have deep concerns about the way the rankings have been obtained.' She said they were 'misleading' because the data is presented as if it is comparing like with like.
Howley also pointed out that visitor surveys, particular those done by the institutions themselves, return high figures. She said the figures were unusable.
Mayo conceded: 'There are lots of apples and pears in the statistics. We would recommend a more consistent approach to data gathering across public services.' He said that the Cabinet Office plans to look at creating a common measurement tool.
Howley said although the ratings were dubious, the wider report, which sets out a blueprint to build 'world-class public services', was useful. 'We welcome any work that aims to increase our understanding of people's attitudes to public services.'
The NCC research found customers' confidence in their ability to use the service was the single most important factor when it came to using
public services.
Felicity Heywood
