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      Public services are at a pivotal moment

      Across the UK, public services are facing rising expectations and rapid advances in AI and digital capability. Our Citizen Experience Excellence 2025-26 findings show a clear opportunity: by shifting from isolated digital initiatives to true system alignment, organisations can unlock more seamless, empathetic and efficient citizen experiences at scale.

      Digital services improve experiences, systems transform outcomes and help organisations deliver services sustainably whilst dealing with cost pressures

      Despite years of investment, citizen experience has barely moved - not because progress hasn’t been made, but because transformation has been fragmented. Our 2026 analysis highlights that when data, workflows, technology and people are connected end‑to‑end, public services can move beyond incremental change to deliver integrated, proactive experiences that reflect real citizen journeys.

      Citizens want systems that remember, recognise and respect them

      People want experiences that connect across channels, understand context, and respond with fairness and empathy. These values sit at the heart of the shift to system alignment and are fundamental to designing services that truly work for citizens.

      Read the report to discover where progress matters most.

      Jo Thomson
      Jo Thomson

      Partner, Customer Transformation

      KPMG in the UK

      “To truly shift the dial on citizen experience, the public sector must move beyond isolated digital fixes and embrace a system‑wide, AI‑enabled approach - one that joins up services, breaks down silos, and remembers, recognises, and respects every citizen.”

      Download the 2025/26 Citizen Experience Excellence Report

      This year’s report highlights why citizen experience is plateauing and how system alignment, smarter use of AI, and a renewed focus on the 3Rs (Remember Me. Recognise Me. Respect Me) can unlock more connected, trusted and human‑centred public services.

      Inside the report:

      • Key findings from the 2025–26 survey
      • Why a shift from isolated digital delivery to system alignment is required
      • What citizens want most: services that remember, recognise and respect them
      • AI as the accelerator- or stress test - for modern service delivery
      • System alignment to unlocks seamless, proactive services
      • Practical pathways for delivering system‑wide transformation
      Download the report

      The Six Pillars of Experience Excellence

       

      Across 16 years of global research, the Six Pillars of Citizen Experience Excellence have been established as a universal set of qualities that define every citizen experience. For the last 5 years in the UK, we have been researching the experience of public services in the UK, using the Six Pillars as a benchmark for success and translating this insight into practical action that public sector organisations can take to transform.

      Organisations that understand and deliver against The Six Pillars have always showcased enhanced outcomes, quick growth and greater shareholder value.

      Integrity

      Being trustworthy and engendering trust Integrity

      Public sector organisations must continue to invest in building the foundations of integrity, starting with cyber and technology transformation, including deliberate, human-centred use of AI. Getting this right provides a platform for integrity to develop, as without it, investment can be undone in one incident.

      Resolution

      Turning a poor experience into a great one

      Digital channels are the answer, but this is only part of the solution. We need a system-wide approach to enable integrated data and a real-time view of the whole citizen to enable citizens to effectively self-serve and find resolution without any need to contact the public service organisation.

      Expectations

      Managing, meeting and exceeding customer expectations

      Customers have Expectations about how their needs will be met, increasingly set by the best brands they have encountered. Understanding, delivering and, if possible, exceeding Expectations is a key skill of great organisations. Some organisations are able to make statements of clear intent that set expectations (e.g. “never knowingly undersold”) while others set the expectation accurately (“delivery in 48 hours”). And then delight the customer when they exceed it.

      Time and Effort

      Minimising citizen effort and creating frictionless processes

      Organisations need to adopt a system-wide, citizen-focused approach to redesign their citizen service processes, ensuring citizens can easily access the assistance they need from the start. They need to join up the citizen front door with service delivery teams to deliver a seamless experience.

      Personalisation

      Using individualised attention to drive emotional connection

      System-wide change is required to achieve a personalised digital experience – using the citizen as the focal point. It's about fundamentally rethinking how an organisation operates, designs services, and interacts with citizens, with the ultimate goal of creating a more responsive, and citizen-centric public service. Only then will public sector organisations be able to truly deliver personalisation at scale.

      Empathy

      Achieving an understanding of the customer's circumstances to drive deep rapport

      AI enhanced digital services cannot operate in isolation; they must be seamlessly backed by human support, available precisely when needed. The challenge lies in designing digital platforms that augment, rather than replace human interaction, ensuring that the efficiency of technology does not come at the expense of personalised and compassionate service.

      Case Studies

      PDF
      Citizen Experience Excellence 2026 – Case Study: Sunderland City Council

      How Sunderland City Council is using digital infrastructure, data and people‑centred design to transform services, improve outcomes and strengthen trust for communities across the city.

      Download
      PDF
      Citizen Experience Excellence 2026 – Case Study: National Audit Office

      Insights from the National Audit Office on how understanding user needs and performance data can drive better public service outcomes and value for money.

      Download
      PDF
      Citizen Experience Excellence 2026 – Case Study: Transport for Greater Manchester

      Discover how Transport for Greater Manchester (TFGM) united services under the Bee Network to deliver more reliable, affordable and customer-focused public transport. This case study highlights the power of clear purpose, strong branding and listening to citizens to drive lasting change.

      Download

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