Damning poll reveals public dismay with privatisation

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Damning poll reveals public dismay with privatisation as 80% demand a say


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Four in five people want their say in whether or not public services are privatised, a damning new survey has revealed.

The Survation poll - commissioned by We Own it, a new organisation which launched today with a report calling for a public service users bill - discovered that the public rejects default privatisation by 10 to one.

The research follows a recent scandal in which the security firms G4S and Serco were accused of charging taxpayers tens of millions of pounds for electronic tags on criminals who were dead, in jail or had left the country.

The poll, which surveyed over 1,000 people, found that:

80% believe that when a public service is put out to tender, there should always be an in-house bid to see if the service could be provided publicly at better value.
79% believe the electorate should be consulted and have their views considered before any service is privatised or outsourced.
69% of Labour voters believe the public sector is more accountable than the private sector when running public services.
60% think local and national government should run public services in the public sector as the default, and only consider contracting out if this fails.
90% of Conservative voters believe the government should be required to end private company contracts early when they are found to be doing a poor job of running public services, following public complaints.
88% believe private companies running public services should be required to be as transparent about their performance and financial data as the public sector.
48% mistakenly believe that private companies running public services are obliged by law to respond to Freedom of Information requests.
Cat Hobbs, director of We Own It, said: "Despite what the government might think, people aren't sold on the idea of privatising and outsourcing public services. We hope that this report, and the clear public support for public ownership, will spell the beginning of the end for privatisation-as-usual. In the future, public services will need to be owned by and accountable to the people they serve."

According to We Own It, a public service users bill would require that private companies be transparent about their performance and financial data and answer Freedom of Information requests.

Currently, private companies can hide contract details behind a cloak of ‘commercial confidentiality’.

Damian Lyons Lowe, chief executive of Survation, said: "A clear majority of the general public, including Conservative voters, reject automatic privatisation of public services; 80% want to see public sector bids for all public service tenders, showing a clear desire not to see services simply privatised by default.

"For public services that are operated by the private sector, the public would like to see far higher levels of transparency and accountability, with 88% both wanting higher transparency levels and an early end to contracts in case of poor service provision."