Local councils ranked alongside private landlords for failing to prioritise public interests: Survey

Research conducted by the Policy Institute at King's College London, Ipsos UK and the LSE also found that respondents believed local authorities were the least likely to cater to them, among a list of services.

When the public was asked which services, from a list of 19, were least likely to prioritise their interests, local councils were the most frequently chosen answer, selected by 28% of people.

This places them on par with private landlords (27%) for negative public perception, the report said.

The survey, which took in responses from 2,185 people aged 16 and above, also found that the majority of the public (54%) feel they are powerless to change things in Britain, with Reform UK supporters most likely to say they have no influence at all over national decision-making.

Reform UK supporters are also most convinced that they have no influence at all locally, with 43% believing they have no ability to influence local decisions.

Professor Bobby Duffy, Director of the Policy Institute at King's College London, said there are three "worrying signs" from the study.

She said: "First, there have been important declines in our sense of control even from this low base, including over whether getting involved in politics can change things. Second, some groups have incredibly high feelings of powerlessness, particularly those who support Reform UK and who do not vote. This goes some way to explain their call for a strong leader and radical policies that will shake things up, partly because they feel they have so little power to lose.

"And third, we've seen a collapse in belief that public services are ready to listen to complaints, halving since 2002. We know that how services respond when things go wrong is a key element of 'delivery', which is major focus for the current government – but this study shows how difficult a task they face in convincing the public that services can actually deliver."

Professor Tony Travers, Associate Dean of the LSE School of Public Policy, meanwhile said: "The major political parties at both central and local government level risk alienating voters and undermining trust in democracy. If people feel they can't get public services to work for them because Whitehall and council officials appear not to care, there will be consequences for political parties and for the willingness of people to pay taxes."

Adam Carey