PERCEPTIONS OF PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY AT LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL: INITIAL FINDINGS

Abstract

There is a growing consensus to view the gap between the service provider and service recipients over the standard of public service delivery by local government authorities (LGAs). In Malaysia, comparing the perception of these two parties is crucial as the government aspires to develop a meaningful mechanism aiming at improving LGAs accountability and performance. The objective of this paper is to identify the perception gap between the service provider and service recipients of the standard of LGAs service delivery. The perception of both parties was measured based on their satisfaction on service delivery provided by LGAs. In total, 347 service recipients (the public) and 105 service providers (the LGAs’ staffs) in three selected LGAs in Kedah have participated in this survey. The findings of this study indicated that there are gaps in perception between the community respondents and the LGAs staff with regards to the delivery of services provided by LGAs. This study contributes to the initial understanding of expectation differences in local service delivery between the service provider and service recipients.