Even casual observers of this blog will know that we were big election day supporters of the local government staff who worked such long hours to ensure that last week’s elections went off without incident.
However, my general feeling of good will to my fellow local government workers was slightly punctured when I popped into my local polling station late on Thursday evening.
There was nothing wrong with the service I received. The process was efficient, the staff were friendly and the polling station was well signposted. I received my polling card and like a good (and slightly anal) citizen had it with me when I popped off to vote.
The slight souring of my mood happened as I went to leave the polling station. The very friendly senior returning officer (he had a badge: another tick) stopped me and asked if I would be willing to fill in a feedback survey and send it back in the kindly provided freepost envelope. Being a strong believer in collecting feedback and acting on residents’ opinions I took my form and headed home.
Once home I realised the futility of the evaluation; one which has lessons for many other local government consultations.