In this article, Deloitte explores the importance of major programme delivery in defining public trust in the state.
Governments don’t have a great reputation for delivering major projects. When it comes to the state’s grandest endeavours – like building national infrastructure – there’s a deep-rooted perception that they habitually go over budget and over schedule. In fact, Deloitte’s research finds that the public has less faith in governments to deliver major projects than anything else they do. According to the firm, the new administration has an opportunity to turn this around: major projects should build trust in the state through their success, not erode it by their failure.
What the public says about major projects
Deloitte’s latest State of the State survey asked the public how much it trusts different parts of the UK’s public sector across a range of capabilities. The survey reveals that the public largely trusts government to use up-to-date technology, which might come as a surprise to civil servants wrestling with legacy IT systems. But also, trust in the state trails off when it comes to delivering major projects. And it’s not just central government either – the same is true of local government and public services. While 72% of the public trust the NHS to do the right thing by society, just 38% believe it can deliver major projects and 53% do not, giving it a net trust score of minus 15 percentage points.
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