Trust in public institutions and satisfaction with public services are important yardsticks of the quality of public governance. They reflect people’s perceptions of government competence in designing and delivering policies and services, and expectations on the behaviour of public institutions and their representatives. Although high trust in public institutions is not a necessary outcome of democratic governance, trust and satisfaction with public services facilitate effective governance, as they correlate with high rates of compliance with policies, participation in public life and social cohesion.
The United Kingdom is above the OECD average in satisfaction with public services. The services with the highest level of reported satisfaction are the education system (72%) and healthcare (71%), compared to 67% and 68%, respectively, in the OECD. With 67% satisfaction in the judicial system, the United Kingdom is 11 percentage points above the OECD average. Around two-thirds (65%) are satisfied with administrative services, which is comparable to the OECD average (63%).