Levels of trust in civil servants has doubled since 1983

Public trust in civil servants is at an all-time high, says new survey


By Sarah.Aston

16 Jan 2015

The number of British people who say they trust civil servants to tell the truth has more than doubled since 1983, a new survey by Ipsos MORI has revealed.

According to the organisation – which has conducted the survey annually since 1983 –  55% of the British public trust civil servants to tell the truth compared to the 25% that said they trusted officials in 1983.

The survey is based on the responses of 1,116 adults across Britain who were asked whether they trust key professions – doctors, teachers, scientists, clergy/priests, the police, civil servants, journalists and politicians generally – to tell the truth.

Bobby Duffy, director of the Social Research Institute at Ipsos MORI said: “This long-running study shows that trust levels are not fixed, and do shift as the context changes – which is seen particularly in the increasing trust in scientists and civil servants and decreasing trust in the clergy. ”

The results of the survey were welcomed by cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood.

He said in a blog: “This is encouraging – particularly when trust in other institutions has been declining – but further increases in public trust and confidence depend on our delivering on our reform priorities, which will help to deliver consistently excellent public services and a modern, efficient and highly skilled civil service.”

 

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