Yorkshire voters’ satisfaction with public services at an all time low, new figures show

With less than a month to go until the election, the polling is likely to make grim reading for the Conservatives, showing a mood of general decline and growing dissatisfaction with how the country works.

Even in London, where satisfaction with public services is at its highest level nationally, 60 per cent still feel less satisfied than five years ago.

The research, published by pollsters Ipsos, showed the main factor people attribute the decline to is the result of policies implemented by the UK Government.

While Conservative voters are more likely to blame poor management within public sector organisations for the decline in quality of service, Labour and Lib Dem voters, perhaps unsurprisingly, feel the UK Government is responsible, with 67 per cent of Labour voters and 60 per cent of Lib Dems attributing this as the primary cause.

It comes as a separate study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found funding for English councils is now 18 per cent lower per resident than in 2010–11, despite costs and demand having risen dramatically.

With all councils under extreme financial pressure, their ability to deliver any services other than those which they are legally obliged to do has diminished markedly, further fuelling dissatisfaction.

When asked by Ipsos to choose three words they feel best describe public services, the most-chosen by far was under-funded, followed by bureaucratic and unaccountable.

Five per cent feel they were good value for money.

Notably, Conservative supporters were more inclined than Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters to characterise public services as underfunded.

Public satisfaction with most public services is low, with recycling the only service with positive ratings from over half of Britons.

But all services, especially GPs and hospitals, have declined significantly in satisfaction since 2021.

Road maintenance is the lowest-rated service.

Perhaps most stark among the study’s findings are the historical comparisons, and the rapid decline in satisfaction over the past two decades.

In 1998, when the study was first carried out, 90 per cent of people asked were satisfied in the services provided by their GP. Now, that figure is 40 per cent.

Over the same time period, NHS hospital satisfaction has gone from 80 per cent to 32 per cent, train company satisfaction has gone from 53 per cent to 21 per cent and council housing has gone from 72 per cent to 20 per cent.

In Yorkshire, voters are the most dissatisfied in the country with train companies and local bus services, and the third least satisfied with road maintenance and repairs.

The public is pessimistic about the future of public services, with only one in seven believing in improvement within the next five years and only half within 20 years. Young people are more optimistic.

Gideon Skinner, Senior Director of UK Politics at Ipsos said: “Our latest research highlights that three quarters of Britons believe public services have deteriorated in the past five years, with policies implemented by the Government, rising costs and poor management cited as the main reasons for this worsening, amid perennial concerns over underfunding.”

“This is particularly important In the run up to the General Election, with the NHS especially and also education key factors in how people say they will vote, and roads and transport often important local concerns.”

“Across all regions of the UK dissatisfaction outweighs satisfaction for public services, and particularly so in the North of England compared with the South.

“Dissatisfaction across Yorkshire and the Humber is most notable relating to services such as road maintenance, the quality of people’s high street, NHS hospitals and the performance of local councils, and exhibits some of the highest levels of dissatisfaction in Britain for local bus services and train companies.

“There is also little optimism that things will improve in the short-term at least, with most people in the region thinking it could take more than a decade for things to get much better – which will be a challenge for whichever party is next in government.”