Public Sector

Conducting social research across the Public Sector has become increasingly important as bodies become more accountable and need to adopt a commercial approach.

Public sector

All the research we conduct in this area is designed to place the voice of the public at the very heart of the decision making process.

We ensure our clients make decisions (and often very difficult decisions) based on the best possible research findings. Everything we do is designed so that it can be used to help our clients gain engagement from internal and external stakeholders, either by ensuring results are statically robust or by providing vox pops where the public highlights the issues in their own words. Plus we have a team with first hand experience of buying social research.

Groups who are typically under-represented in the consultation process are given a voice, and we ensure the silent majority are not overlooked or undervalued. We are able to utilise methodologies more commonly used in other industry sectors to help innovate within social research, including the introduction of conjoint analysis to help develop priorities.

In response to increasingly tight budget constraints, we developed our Reconvened Budget Consultation Platform to help social clients lead the solution in terms of reducing costs whilst maintaining (and indeed potentially increasing) resident buy in.

Some examples include:

  • Reconvened Budget Consultation research with a number of district and county councils. Specifically helping them to understand residents views towards budget cuts and those areas where spending could be reduced.
  • Quantitative postal surveys examining current performance and resident’s priorities.
  • For national non-profit organisations including the Energy Saving Trust we have run a number of projects, from examining awareness and logo recognition to attitudes towards energy conservation and usage.
  • Several smaller, more local projects, with users of children’s play facilities and local community theatres.

We also provide research services to Police Forces. In April 2008, the Assessment of Policing and Community Safety (APACS) was introduced as a performance assessment framework. It was developed by the Home Office and their community safety partners to effectively manage performance and ensure a high quality service to the public.

Police forces are bound to a Quality of Services Commitment which documents the standards of service a member of the public should receive when they contact the police. APACS User Satisfaction is a key element of assessing the implementation of the Quality of Services Commitment.

Through the rigorous tender and evaluation process facilitated by Thames Valley Police, we provide research services to UK Police Forces. The national framework position as an accredited supplier ensures our quality system, project management process, IT security, data management, and staff vetting, meet the high standards required.

Recent research includes:

  • Victims of Crime
  • Confidence Research
  • Fraud Research
  • Professional Standards
  • RTC Non Attended
  • Crowd Handling for the Metropolitan Police

For further information on projects related to the Public Sector in general please contact either: Steve King, Head of Customer Experience and Operations:

E: steve.king@spafuturethinking.com

T: +44 (0)1865 336 400

or:

Stephen Link, Research Director:

E: stephen.link@spafuturethinking.com

T: +44 (0)20 7843 9777

For further information on projects related to the Police please contact Lisa Allan, Research Director:

E: lisa.allen@spafuturethinking.com

T: +44 (0)1494 688 400