A new research project has found that people generally view local communications as “more honest, credible…and directly relevant to the needs of their own communities” when compared with communications from the UK government.
'Public Perceptions of UK and Local Government Communication about COVID-19' was produced by Belong - The Cohesion and Integration Network in partnership with the University of Kent and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, drawing on responses from over 9,000 people from across the UK. The research examined peoples thoughts on communication about COVID-19 by the UK government, by local government and by devolved governments over the last year.
Key findings
51.6% of people think UK government communication lacks honesty and credibility.
50.2% thought that UK government communication lacks empathy and only 19.9% thought the level of empathy was high.
47.9% thought UK government communication did not meet their community’s needs, compared to 35.9% for local government communication.
However, 44.8% of people viewed UK government communications as highly accessible and easy to find, compared to 33.1% for local government communications.
In Scotland and Wales there was a stark difference in perception of communications from the UK government and their own devolved governments.
Further breakdown of the data for the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales is available in an addition to the main report.
