I don’t work in public service, but I do work in a professional job that requires interaction with people frequently as part of the job.
To help them I often have to give them a list of things to do to help themselves and progress their situation, I put this extremely clearly and on an almost daily basis people just don’t do anything. You call them up and explain again what they need to do, they acknowledge what you say, and again, don’t listen to you or don’t do it. You send them things to read, they don’t read and don’t action your recommendations. They don’t manage their own deadlines and require constant follow-up, and generally don’t seem interested.
This is despite them coming to you at a fair cost to themselves for your expertise to begin with. The tasks you ask of them aren’t difficult, but I find myself on a daily basis playing the same procedure.
Why are people like this? Until working in a professional role I never expected that it would be so difficult in dealing with people like this. Getting them to do even the most basic things can be extremely difficult.