Citizen Satisfaction

Government Service Quality Survey 

The Government's aim, as set out in its policy programme, is to score at least mark 7 for government services, during the present term of office. The State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations is fleshing out this aspiration, focusing on the perceptions (questions or problems) of private citizens. The baseline was measured in the spring of 2008, when people were asked about the services provided in connection with life events.

Survey design 

The survey looked at the services provided in connection with 55 life events, ranging from 'having a child', 'beginning a course', 'starting a business', 'long-term illness', 'going abroad', 'changing housing situation' and 'being fined' to 'death of a nearest and dearest'. These events had a high recognition factor for respondents, who were selected on the basis of actual experience of the various events. Over 10,000 persons were screened, leaving a final net sample of 1,400 to take part in the survey. The results are thus representative of Dutch residents who had contacts with government in connection with one of the life events during the past twelve months. The respondents were questioned on the items in the e-Citizen Charter. This is a code of conduct consisting of ten quality standards for the relationship between the public and government in the modern digital society. The standards have been formulated as citizens rights and associated government duties. They can be seen as a code of etiquette between government and the public. Statements were formulated based on the standards.

Article on the e-Citizen Charter as a tool for measuring citizen satisfaction on the basis of life events (PDF, 129 kB)

Citizenlink is working on developing the methodology further. Also a variation of the instrument for local use will be developed.