Memorandum from the National Consumer
Council
INTRODUCTION
1. The National Consumer Council (NCC) is
an independent consumer expert, championing the consumer interest
to bring about change for the benefit of all consumers. We do
this by working with people and organisations that can make change
happen—governments, regulators, business and people and
organisations who speak on behalf of consumers. NCC is independent
of government and all other interests. We conduct rigorous research
and policy analysis and draw on the experiences of consumers and
other consumer organisations.
2. The NCC's public service programme has
become increasingly high profile in recent years and our understanding
of consumers' experiences and aspirations for public services
has elevated us to a central position of influence. In particular,
we have become a respected and influential voice in two areas:
empowering and involving consumers, and user-based criteria for
what constitutes quality.
3. Recognising our expertise in empowering
and involving consumers, the Home Office and Department of Health
contracted us to lead on developing a systematic, national framework
that helps central government to involve citizens effectively
in the decision-making of public services. The Local Government
White Paper referred to our work on citizen governance in its
chapter on empowerment, and thus widely reinforced our unique
mandate on this issue.
4. Our expertise around user involvement
is also being pulled in for individual sectors: the Department
for Education and Skills (DfES) engaged us to develop mechanisms
to harness the voice of parents nationally. The NCC co-chaired
a review of patient and public involvement in health and social
care, and also chaired the report of the Tenant Involvement Commission
in housing.
5. The NCC coordinates a Public Service
Users Forum (PSUF) which brings user groups together, for the
first time to develop models for involving users and strengthening
the consumer voice. A stand-alone policy forum that meets three
times a year, the PSUF is a group of representatives from over
20 organisations. While these organisations operate within the
public services sphere, their focus is more on advancing public
interest as opposed to delivering services themselves.
RESEARCH AND
PUBLICATIONS
6. The NCC has a long-standing commitment
to ensure that people have a voice in the provision of the services
and products that affect the quality and experience of their lives.
But today's consumers are highly sceptical about involvement processes,
believing that even when they are asked for their views it is
often a cosmetic exercise.
7. To promote the necessary shift in attitude
from public service providers and other bodies to make consumer
involvement an essential part of their everyday operations, the
NCC has published a number of reports including:
— Involving consumers: everyone
benefits, NCC, 2002 http://www.ncc.org.uk/involvingconsumers/involving_consumers.pdf
— A playlist for public services,
NCC, 2005 http://www.ncc.org.uk/publicservices/playlist.pdf
Copies of these documents are also included
with the hard copy of this submission.
8. NCC also works in partnership with a
number of other organisations in its work on Public Services.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
ASSOCIATION
9. We have been working with the Local Government
Association (LGA) to develop better measures of customer satisfaction
with local services so we can have a clearer picture of the key
customer groups, or segments, for local government; what "drives"
their satisfaction (the fundamental factors that make the difference
between a satisfied and a complaining customer); the different
types of relationship they have with the council and good ways
of measuring satisfaction.
10. We found that, in order for local services
to cater for specific needs, councils need to be equipped with
tools for measuring customer satisfaction that work well at the
local level. The first phase of research completed last autumn
set out broad options for customer satisfaction measures and how
these would fit into an overall performance framework for local
areas. The research recommended that councils should focus on
measuring the specifics of customer experience to get behind broad
measures of customer satisfaction. They also needed to develop
common approaches to collecting and analysing data which would
enable them to use data more effectively within the council, but
would also support benchmarking between councils and potentially
sharing data with other local public service providers. The next
phase of research will be the development of a shared customer
segmentation and protocol for gathering data which will be tested
with a group of councils.
The final report was published in October 2006
and can be viewed here: http://www.ncc.org.uk/publicservices/customer-satisfaction.pdf
SHARED SOLUTIONS
11. NCC developed a unique partnership with
Unison to explore a new approach to public service improvement
which challenged the assumption that users and frontline staff
in public services have rival interests. The partnership is exceptional
in that it brings together the organisation that represents consumer
interests and the organisation that represents people delivering
public services. The partners tested the innovative approach called
Shared Solutions: combining user and staff expertise to determine
the scope for improved service delivery through collaboration.
12. During a one-day workshop using Shared
Solutions, social housing tenants and housing officers were
brought together to discuss existing services, identify problems,
build relationships and agree shared priorities. Shared Solutions
showed that, although users and staff initially regarded each
other with mutual suspicion and open hostility, by the end they
had identified common aspirations, diagnosed shared problems and
come up with agreed suggestions for improvement.
13. The NCC and Unison recommend the use
of Shared Solutions across public services as a key element
of the service improvement and user-responsiveness agenda. A uniquely
dynamic innovation, Shared Solutions identifies tangible,
shared priorities and thus helps to achieve service excellence
in local communities.
14. The launch of the findings coincided
with the publication of the Local Government White Paper in October
and can be viewed here: http://www.ncc.org.uk/publicservices/sharedsolutions.pdf[62]
FUTURE SERVICES
NETWORK
15. NCC also works to achieve better user-focussed
services through our membership of the Future Services Network,
along with the CBI and the Association of Chief Executives of
Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO). The network is a body which came
together to campaign explicitly for improved user voice in the
public services. In April 2006 the network launched six key principles
for reform which were designed to help deliver services which
are more reactive to individual's changing needs.This work is
detailed in the CBI's submission to this inquiry and the full
report can be viewed here:http://www.ncc.org.uk/publicservices/future_services_blueprint.pdf[63]
FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
16. NCC's work shows that consumer voice is
an essential ingredient of good policy-making. The NCC recommends
that there should be:
— A central strategy for consumer involvement
and developing the capacity for voice that makes it a priority
as part of public service reform.
— Greater co-operation between public
bodies, and joint working arrangements where appropriate.
— Practical support to make it work
that includes training, tools and techniques and sharing of good
practice.
17. Recommendations from A consumer blueprint
for responsive services include:
— Provide easy and appropriate access
to services.
— Encourage individuals to use and
shape service in ways that suit them.
— Actively seek to learn from public
involvement (voice) and develop services accordingly.
CONSUMERS DO
WANT A
VOICE
18. The NCC is concerned about the growing
belief in consumer apathy. Our research indicates that, despite
consumer scepticism, people are keen to be active with around
450,000 individuals taking up formal roles across the public sector,
and many thousands more making their voices heard in schools,
hospitals, and housing. Very often people are just waiting to
be asked.
19. The onus is on providers to provide
opportunities for service users and citizens to express a voice
in an easy and natural process that is genuinely meaningful. Providers
must make it clear how voice can and does have an impact on the
development of policies and priorities. This can be done very
simply by providing feedback and keeping two-way lines of communication
open. If voice has no effect on outcomes the process quickly generates
cynicism and withdrawal. Research consistently shows that ineffective
user participation is worse than none at all.
20. The expression of voice can be an effective
tool to enable managers to create and provide services that balance
services within resource constraints. When voice is managed well
it can help service providers design and deliver services that
genuinely meet people's needs, boost standards, identify problem
areas and provide value for money.
IMPORTANCE OF
VOICE
21. Although the government's commitment
to public involvement has grown, it is clear that more work needs
to be done on developing different forms of public involvement
and clarifying to what ends different mechanisms are used. While
government aspires to involve the public, actual experience remains
limited, so consumer empowerment through voice is still in the
early stages of development.
22. Choice and voice are interdependent;
neither is alone is a panacea, or enough by itself, and both have
strengths and weaknesses. Used effectively, voice can be an integral
part of rebalancing services away from provider interests and
toward the interest of consumers and service users.
23. It is part of mature public management,
and thus ensuring responsiveness in public services is to deploy
these tools to best effect. Government needs to improve their
understanding of the various forms of public involvement, where
and when to use them, how to select the right one to solve specific
problems, and how to proceed when they conflict.
24. Different entry points need to be identified
within the service planning cycle to ensure appropriate and effective
involvement of users in service design and evaluation. For example,
there are some areas where decisions involving technically complex
issues will need to be informed by professionals and other experts.
But deficits in technical knowledge amongst users can be overcome
and should not be used as an excuse to engage them constructively
in decision-making processes.
25. Public involvement in designing and
managing services is necessary to identify the kinds of choices
consumers would like to be able to make. But too many decisions
are still made without involving consumers and without sufficient
mechanisms to take on board consumers' complaints. Complaints
systems are often overly complex. Most issues can and should be
dealt with as close to the frontline as possible.
26. Individuals must have a significant
voice in service design right through the service chain—at
the point at which services are commissioned, regulated, inspected
and monitored and not just at the point of supply.
27. In addition to improving the design
of services, such forms of participation can help to increase
trust. Developing public trust must proceed by engaging stakeholders
in mature debates about what can realistically be expected from
public services and what the opportunity costs may be. Increasingly
it is the role of regulators, purchasers and planners of services
and the boards that govern them to determine priorities within
resource constraints. They must do this by balancing various expressed
needs of different groups of stakeholders with the public interest.
Opportunities for individuals to voice their opinion are crucial
if the plurality of different needs is to be expressed and taken
into account.
SYSTEMS AND
STRUCTURES
28. Organisational structures, values and
systems need to be in place at all levels to give practical support
to staff involved in the process of gathering and using service
users' voices. This kind of practical support includes:
— Establishing the right kind of infrastructure
and a range of tools and techniques that enable staff to engage
with service users effectively, and to feed the results into service
design and policy-making.
— Leadership from the top to drive
through change, inspire frontline staff and make sure the processes
work properly.
— Training for staff at all levels
to ensure they understand the underlying purpose as well as the
processes for engaging with "voice".
— Appropriate training or guidance
for service users so they know how to engage.
— Setting up mechanisms for sharing
good practice and learning internally and externally.
— Implementing regular reviews and
evaluations of effectiveness and outcomes.
29. Voice needs to be managed effectively
to avoid the most confident and articulate from dominating, which
can compound inequalities. Stakeholder engagement practices can
be subject to capture by specific groups if not carefully managed.
Advice, information and advocacy may be needed to avoid making
existing disadvantage worse. Public service managers need to plan
carefully how and when to involve users so they know which is
the most appropriate mechanism, and which individuals or user
groups need to be involved. [64]
30. The effort to transform public services
needs to focus on how people actually experience services in order
to understand how organisations can create better relationships
with their users and customers. Managers need to understand how
services relate in practice to people's everyday lives.
31. NCC research suggests that people often
feel alienated by public services, and believe that they lack
control over how services are delivered. Public services feel
remote and bureaucratic, part of a bigger system in which users
have no say. When they have tried to get involved they are not
sure who to turn to or how to find out what is happening, so feel
unheard and unable to change things. Most people just want to
be treated as human beings.
32. Engaging with service users does not
need to be complicated, as we found in our Citizen's Forum consultation
into how public service provision can be shaped by the people
and communities that use them. Some clear and simple messages
came out of the discussions where people told us:
— make communication simple and obvious
— keep me informed throughout
— involve me as early as possible
— be open to criticism and change
— I'm not a number, treat me as an
individual
33. Co-production, where users are more
involved in shaping the service they receive are likely to be
more active and responsible in helping to deliver and sustain
the service as can be seen in the Community Gateway housing projects
for example. Policy objectives that depend on behaviour change,
such as the respect agenda, or public health initiatives, cannot
be achieved without the active participation of service users
to generate positive long term outcomes.
34. Voice should not be restricted to service
users. Frontline staff have an enormous expertise and insight
into how services work and what could be done to improve them.
The Shared Solutions approach developed by NCC and Unison,
which goes way beyond the usual consultation exercises, surveys
and public meetings which at best give only half the picture.
SATISFACTION SURVEYS
35. In recent years the budget for government
departments and agencies has risen. But the quality of research
and satisfaction measures leaves a lot to be desired.
36. For example there is no overall strategy
for data collection, departments use different approaches and,
even within departments, it is not always possible to see a consistent
pattern or plan. Different styles of questions and methodology
make the results impossible to compare. It is also unclear whether
the surveys measure and monitor the right areas: questions should
be about those issues that are important in the views and experience
of service users and the wider public. Ultimately it is not clear
how such data is used. Survey reports are often displayed on departmental
or agency websites with few indications of any link to policy
or practice.
37. A more coordinated and strategic approach
is needed to get the most from satisfactions surveys. With leadership
from within the Cabinet Office, work is beginning on a guiding
set of principles and framework for developing, delivering and
interpreting survey research. The Insight team is pushing forward
work on better understanding of the different and complex needs
of different groups of service users. [65]
38. Similarly in local government, a more
systematic approach to customer satisfaction is urgent not only
for improving the quality of public services, but also being able
to assess whether productivity and efficiency gains translate
into better outcomes from a user and citizen perspective. The
LGA, IDeA and central government are all working towards a new
performance framework for local government, and potentially for
local services, which will be based on more accountability to
local people and less on compliance with inspection and national
targets. As mentioned earlier in this paper the NCC and LGA have
been working in partnership to improve ways of measuring customer
satisfaction, especially in relation to user experiences.
39. It should be relatively straightforward
to develop a set of minimum standards for public services. Consumers
are fundamentally consistent in what they need: a service that
delivers what it is meant to deliver, with staff who have the
appropriate skills and competencies, and where communication is
effective. Through working with their customers Tesco has developed
a model based on the five aspects of supermarket experience that
are critical to customers:
— and the staff are great. [66]
EVIDENCE FROM
THE OTHER
SECTORS
40. Public services can, and should, learn
from best practice. There are many examples from the public, private
and third sector. [67]The
LGA's study of best practice in using customer information provided
a picture of "customer led performance management" in
successful organisations outside local government and demonstrated
the value of customer information to delivering and improving
services. The conclusions of this work are being shared with local
councils and linked to a peer review of customer service which
the IDeA has developed and is being offered to councils.
41. It is important to recognise good practice
within the public sector itself, and that other sectors have their
fair share of poor practice. NCC research for The stupid company[68]
report earlier this year found that over 80% of consumers would
be only too pleased to help companies get better, but many businesses
still seem distant and unaware of customers' real experiences.
Half of those who had been let down or treated badly said it was
just easier to go somewhere else than sort out their present difficulties.
Although companies say that they are focused on consumers, the
everyday reality is often very different with 70% of consumers
believing company bosses are out of touch, with no idea what it's
like to be a customer.
42. In conclusion NCC's Playlist for
Public Services included the following Checklist for Action:
— Don't over promise. Set out clearly
and publicly the core service standards of what you cover and
what you do not.
— Allow for services to be customised
at the local level, but monitor and maintain success in relation
to baseline standards.
— Promote services that are contestable—for
example, by opening up opportunities for private and voluntary
sector providers.
— Let frontline staff respond to the
needs of consumers, by designing "short feedback loop"
systems to give them the ability to respond.
— Invest in technology improvements
that start and end with consumer needs.
— Give time for changes to work, in
line with the NCC's Golden Rule for Public Services.
— Look for new and better ways to give
consumers high quality information, including clear service rights,
so that they feel they will be treated with respect.
— Address contracts and the way that
money flows. Use funding to follow the choices of users and to
build the right incentives for staff.
— Use customer complaints as a strategic
source of information on quality control.
— Invest in internal communication,
so that staff can champion service improvement.
— Measure and report on customer satisfaction,
in a consistent and systematic way.
— Value good management, invest in
those doing it and hold them accountable.
— Test your governing body against
the Good Governance Standard for Public Services.
— Take every opportunity to bring public
service values to life in the day-to-day running of the service.
— Build soft skills such as listening
and empathy into professional competences and continuing professional
development.
— Listen to the voice of users, by
building a supportive dialogue with public service user groups.
— Use professional social marketing
techniques, rather than simple advertising or messages, when you
need to change public behaviour.
— Decide with service users what participation
strategy fits your service, and make it work.
— Encourage staff to see people that
use public services as active partners, bringing their skills
and knowledge, rather than passive users.
— Celebrate success, when customer
service improves!
February 2007
62 Shared Solutions NCC and Unison, 2006. Back
63
A consumer blueprint for responsive services, Future Services
network, 2004. Back
64
See Stronger Voice, training for effective representation
and consultation, 2003; NCC Involving Consumers, NCC, 2002; User
Power, NCC, 2004; and People and participation, how to put citizens
at the heart of decision making, Involve, 2005. Back
65
Customer Insight Forum, Cabinet Office, 2006. Back
66
The journey to the interface, Demos, 2006. Back
67
Cabinet Office, 2006; Demos, 2006; and Involve, 2005. Back
68
The stupid company-how British businesses throw money away by
alienating customers, 2006.
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