Public v private: customer service compared.

I am regularly struck by the difference between the ways of the private and the public sector.  In Local Government we pay lip service to ‘becoming more commercial’ and ‘taking a more business-like approach’; moreover we aspire to treat ‘residents as customers’.  However it saddens me how often these aspirations fall short of reality.

For reasons too complex to detail here, we have to find a safe parking space for our car in the City of London for three days in November.   Accordingly we have been researching the matter. 

There are effectively two choices:  the private car parks run by NCP and those owned by the Corporation of London.  The Corporation of London will not allow one to book in advance, will not guarantee a space even if one has a season ticket or residents’ parking ticket, and relies for payment on elderly ticket machines at the exit at the time of departure.  In contrast NCP has invested in number plate recognition equipment, will allow you to book a space in advance and pay for it, and will guarantee that that space will be available when you turn up.  Furthermore an early booking results in a useful discount which reduces the price below the Corporation’s daily rate.  No contest really, NCP here we come!

But why does the Corporation of London, which is in many ways an exemplary authority,  compare so woefully  with its direct competitor?  NCP’s  more user friendly approach does not exactly involve rocket science.  The Corporation’s officers are bright people capable of devising and putting a comparable system in place. Can it really simply  be the case that the profit motive  alone provides a spur to innovation and good practice in a way that a local government officer’s genuine desire to serve the community does not?