Brits Demand Digital Government Revolution in the Next Two Years

This new data also reveals that UK adults expect the usability of digital public services to match up to that of the services offered by large private sector companies – like Uber, Netflix or Amazon.

This trend illustrates an evolution in our user experience expectations, particularly when comparing what people value about digital experiences in the private sector with their frustrations in the public sector. Brits identified the top features they found most beneficial for app-based private sector services was time-saving (38%), and simplicity and ease of use (33%).

Time wasted on public services creates mistrust

In contrast, according to the survey, the most common criticism of current government service provision was time wasted, making it the main reason for dissatisfaction and mistrust in digital public services. 29% of UK respondents surveyed who are dissatisfied with the quality of public services offered by the government feel issues take too long to resolve and 28% find the process of interacting with government services too time-consuming. In the last year alone the average Brit reported to spend a full 12 hours engaging with these services – the equivalent to 75,000 years of lost time when considering the size of the population.

“The message from the UK is loud and clear – the standard of digital public services needs to improve. People today expect their digital experiences with the government to mirror the slick, seamless and simple interactions they get from private sector services,” said John Cheal, UK Public Sector Lead at Nortal.

More likely to share data with a private company vs the government for better service

However, while Brits expect the government to offer services in the same way that they receive products and services from some of the world’s most popular brands, there is a notable level of mistrust that it can – and will – deliver. 31% of Brits are not confident in the government’s ability to deliver digital public services in the near future. Similarly, nearly half of Brits (47%) agree that government agencies would not be able to achieve the same level of digitalisation as companies in the private sector. A challenge that is compounded further by the fact that three in ten Brits would be more likely to share their data with a private company – for the benefit of getting a personalised service as a result – than they would be with the government, a number that rises to 40% amongst Gen Z and 42% in Millennials.

En route to digitalisation ‘security and privacy’ remain the biggest concern for Brits

While the UK government is laying the foundations for a range of more “personalised and proactive services” to rebuild eroding levels of public trust, ongoing concerns around ‘security and privacy’ remain the biggest concern for 42% of Brits for getting all public digital services online.

Cheal concluded, “We’re still seeing too much time wasted by people when it comes to dealing with the government and waiting for issues to be resolved – time that can be better spent elsewhere. In an election year, improving the productivity of UK plc. will be a focus for the main parties and, it’s clear from our research that a simple way to do this – and give the country back 75,000 years worth of annual wasted hours – is to move faster in getting to a future with high-quality digital services at the core. But this must and can be done in a way that doesn’t leave segments of society behind.”

Information about the survey:

The survey data, collected in collaboration with Censuswide, used a sample of 2000 UK nationally representative consumers between 15.03.2024 – 19.03.2024.

The figure – 75,000 years – was calculated using the 2021 ONS mid year population estimate figures for 16+ nationally representative samples which found the number of people aged 16+ in the UK was 54,711,707.