COUNCIL TAX

We need a more nuanced conversation around trust

Ben Page says that while trust in central Government has fallen in both Britain and the US since the 1960s, the problem is not new, or acute. It is chronic - and was there 'as money poured in under Blair' and is 'still there as money pours out'.

Trust is in short supply we are told. The outgoing president of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), Sarah Howard, said there has been a ‘universal breakdown in trust' between Government and the public. At Davos, the elite chastise themselves over what some describe as a profound crisis in trust since the 2008 global banking crash. And it is true that in both Britain and the US – and especially the US – trust in central Government has fallen since the 1960s.

Yet despite the headlines and hand-wringing this narrative is at odds with much of the data. Our latest report, Dimensions of Trust – the truth, finds that trust is complex and takes many forms. Many of these are not in crisis or decline. Without some degree of trust society simply would not function.

Ben Page

Popular articles by Ben Page

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING

Get unlimited access to The MJ with a subscription, plus a weekly copy of The MJ magazine sent directly to you door and inbox.

Subscribe

Full website content includes additional, exclusive commentary and analysis on the issues affecting local government.

Login

Already a subscriber?