Opinion polls are normally understood as surveys of a representative sample of the public about their opinions on public issues, including those related to a Department’s policies. So opinion polls of staff should be understood as surveys of their opinions on public issues or departmental policies, not internal matters.
The table gives the details requested on 15 opinion polls conducted by the Ministry of Justice since 27 June 2007. The cost in 2007-08 of these contracts is £668,531 (excluding VAT).
This figure excludes the costs of the HMCS Court User Survey and Tribunal Service Customer Satisfaction Survey that are commercial in confidence. Both surveys are subject to periodic re-tendering and the release of this information would weaken the Department’s future negotiation position.
Total cost in 2007-08 Name of the opinion poll Staff or public Name of firm carrying out work Purpose of poll Excluding VAT Including. VAT HMCS Court User Survey Public MORI To elicit levels of court user satisfaction with standards or customer service and other key service issues across the high court, the Crown, county and magistrates courts and associated offices. 1— 1— Witness and Victim Experience Survey (WAVES) Public—Victims and witnesses Ipsos MORI To gather consistent and comparable local and national data on victim and witness. 485,990 571,038 Court Service Survey Public Not applicable—conducted internally Feedback on service. 0 0 Constitution Directorate tracker survey Public Ipsos MORI Brief “tracker” survey to monitor public knowledge and opinion of key areas of Constitution Directorate work (e.g. Freedom of Information, Data Protection, Human Rights Act, etc.). Normally repeated three to four times per year. 38,300 45,000 General Public Awareness of the Mental Capacity Act (Capibus survey) Public Ipsos MORI Determine baseline data on awareness of the Mental Capacity Act among the general public prior to implementation. 22,280 26,179 Legal Professionals Awareness of the Mental Capacity Act (online survey) Public—Legal professionals Ipsos MORI Determine baseline data on awareness of the Mental Capacity Act among legal professionals prior to implementation. 7,800 9,165 Health and Social Care Professionals Awareness of the Mental Capacity Act (paper survey) Public—Health and Social Care professionals Distribution through Binleys Survey conducted by Ipsos MORI Determine baseline data on awareness of the Mental Capacity Act among health and social care professionals prior to implementation. 24,278 28,468 Survey Draft Public Law Outline Staff and family court practitioners Not applicable—conducted internally To seek views on the operation of the draft Public Law Outline in 10 initiative areas. 0 0 The Pro Bono Work of Legal Executives Public—Legal executives (i.e. non-gov legal professionals) ECOTEC Primary purpose of this research was to estimate the extent and value of pro bono work being carried out by legal executives. However, there were some questions seeking opinions, e.g. on legal executives’ feelings about carrying out pro bono work. 39,813 46,780 Testing of language and understanding of Departmental Strategic Objectives Public GfK NOP To test comprehension and meaning of the Departmental Strategic Objectives with the 500 members of the public. 6,270 7,367 Employment tribunal mediation pilot Public Westminster University, fieldwork sub-contracted to BMRB To assess effectiveness of judicial mediation in the employment tribunal. 43,800 51,465 Local Face to Face satisfaction Survey Public Not applicable—conducted internally Customer Satisfaction 0 0 Local Victim and Witness Survey Public Not applicable—conducted internally by Witness Service Victim Code Compliance Confidence 0 0 Local Student Confidence in CJS Public Not applicable—conducted internally Confidence and establishing knowledge re a student programme. 0 0 Tribunal Service Customer Satisfaction Survey Public FDS International Limited To inform Key Performance Indicator (KPI) on customer satisfaction. 1— 1— Total 668,531 785,462 1 Costing information is not supplied as this is commercial in confidence. This survey is subject to periodic re-tendering and release of the costings would weaken the Department’s negotiating position.