Confidence in public services drops on Isle of Man

Confidence in the health service has dropped to 38%

Confidence in public services on the Isle of Man has dropped significantly, a government survey suggests.

The figures are part of the 2019 Social Attitudes Survey, which was released this week.

Just 38% of people had confidence in the health service, down from 62% in 2018, and education fell from 75% to 54%, while 28% had faith in Tynwald.

Confidence was highest in the three emergency services, though they all suffered losses of between 14% and 21%.

Policy and Reform Minister Chris Thomas described the loss in confidence as "troubling news".

The survey has been done annually since 2016 and replaced the Quality of Life survey, which was last undertaken in 2002.

Only 25% of people said they had seen a police officer on patrol in the last 12 months

Of the emergency services, the police force was the lowest ranked with just 61% saying they had confidence in the constabulary and 75% saying they had not seen a police officer on patrol in their area in the last year.

Following a £2.5m funding boost in last year's budget, the constabulary said it would make changes to its community policing, which is due to come into effect this month.

This year's survey had questions relating to domestic abuse awareness for the first time, with 32% saying they knew someone over the age of 16 that had been abused.

Elsewhere, 66% believed wealth inequality had become worse compared to 3% who thought it had improved.

The number of people who said they had a physical or mental health condition in the last 12 months rose from 31% to 36%.

Meanwhile, a private car remained the most popular mode of transport with 63% saying they drove daily, while 4% used the bus each day and only 1% cycled.