It looks like a bit of a headline grabber, but the proposal to allow users to provide instant feedback on public services may enable government to break out of the cycle in which one bad news story about a council on an (unreliable!) national news medium can trump all of one’s experience of local services.
The phenomenon whereby people think that their local schools / hospitals / council services are very good, but that education / the health service / local government is generally in a bit of a mess.
Surely nothing contributes to the shift of policymaking powers to from local government to Whitehall as much as this?
On a more flippant note, I like Stuart Harrison’s response on Twitter:
“Gr8 council – would use again A+++++++++++”
It highlights a fundamental point about the provision of ‘choice’ in public services. Often, we don’t have a real option to choose, whereas the need to be seen to respond to genuinely poor feedback will surely improve the quality of local democracy considerably?
Thanks for the heads-up, Paul. I just referenced you in my take on the issues over at http://ariwriter.com/2009/03/rate-your-local-police-online/