Conclusions and recommendations
1. The
Citizen's Charter has had a lasting impact on how public services
are viewed in this country. The initiative's underlying principles
retain their validity nearly two decades on—not least the
importance of putting the interests of public service users at
the heart of public service provision. We believe this cardinal
principle should continue to influence public service reform,
and encourage the Government to maintain the aims of the Citizen's
Charter programme given their continuing relevance to public service
delivery today. (Paragraph 17)
2. There is evidence
that even without widespread public awareness or promotion, the
Charter Mark has been a useful management tool. We consider there
remains a need for a standard which promotes excellence in public
service provision, particularly one that focuses on the interests
and perspectives of service users. We consequently welcome the
introduction of the new Customer Service Excellence standard.
(Paragraph 28)
3. Measures of user
satisfaction can shed some light on the quality of public service
provision. They should, however, be treated with care because
they are subjective and are sometimes based on less important
considerations than service quality. We agree with the Herdan
review that a user focus is essential for any standard aimed at
improving public services. We believe, however, that this should
be based on measures wider than surveys of user satisfaction.
More sophisticated measures—such as those that consider
users' experiences of services, or outcomes for service users—are
likely to be more effective at enabling organisations to improve
public service provision. (Paragraph 34)
4. We believe there
is strong merit in having a tool—such as the Charter Mark
or the new Customer Service Excellence scheme—for improving
user responsiveness and raising the quality of public services.
If it is to be effective at this task, however, we believe that
the emphasis should be on securing high standards of service provision.
This means that considerations other than user satisfaction will
need to be taken into account, including the broader user-focused
measures we have already recommended, as well as the results of
wider assessments by audit, regulatory and inspection bodies.
(Paragraph 36)
5. We recommend that
there should be clear, precise and enforceable statements of people's
entitlements to public services. These should be in the form of
Public Service Guarantees, as proposed by our predecessor Committee.
The Guarantees should specify the minimum standard of service
provision that service users can expect, and set out the arrangements
for redress that apply should service providers fail to meet the
standard promised. (Paragraph 45)
6. We welcome the
Government's existing efforts to set out people's entitlements
to minimum standards of public service provision, as expressed
in a number of targets and core standards. In developing a set
of Public Service Guarantees, we would expect the Government to
consolidate these existing commitments. (Paragraph 46)
7. We envisage the
creation of a set of Public Service Guarantees that could be put
in the hands of public service users. This would, in effect, form
a citizen's handbook of entitlements. The set of Guarantees would
be a progressively evolving document that is able to adapt to
changing need and attitudes about entitlements to public services.
(Paragraph 47)
8. The point of national
minimum standards is not to bring about uniformity of service
provision, but to set the minimum acceptable level and quality
of public service provision that should apply to all. We believe
that minimum standards are therefore an appropriate basis on which
to formulate Public Service Guarantees. (Paragraph 54)
9. If Public Service
Guarantees are to be credible, they must reflect the reality that
there are limits to the resources available for public service
provision. This means that discussions about the nature of entitlements
to public services must explicitly take into account the resources
available to fulfil those entitlements. It also suggests that
people need to be made aware of the responsibilities arising out
of their use of public services, as a concomitant of their rights
to publicly provided services. (Paragraph 61)
10. It is a useful
discipline to require public service decision makers to think
about what is most important to their service users, and to build
entitlements and commitments to service levels around these views.
We believe that the process for setting Public Service Guarantees
must genuinely involve service users if the Guarantees are to
reflect accurately what users want from public services. (Paragraph
65)
11. Introducing entitlements
to public services in the form of Public Service Guarantees would
be a powerful addition to the measures the Government has already
outlined for empowering the people that use public services. (Paragraph
67)
12. Many minimum standards
for public service provision exist already, but public awareness
of these standards appears to be very low. We recommend that,
across all public services, the Government should make a systematic
effort to publicise and communicate these standards as an initial
step
13. towards enabling
people to claim their entitlements to minimum standards of service
provision. Public Service Guarantees, if introduced, would also
need to be publicised widely. (Paragraph 69)
14. There would need
to be a body dedicated to enforcing Public Service Guarantees
so that, in practice, public service users were able to secure
their entitlements. We believe that this would logically fall
within the Ombudsman's remit, since the failure to meet promised
minimum standards would result in complaints about 'maladministration'
on the part of public service providers. The Ombudsman would also
be well-placed to enforce Public Service Guarantees because of
her wide-ranging remit over all public services and considerable
experience in securing redress for those that have suffered from
poor administration. (Paragraph 74)
15. For entitlements
to minimum standards of public services to be effective, there
must be robust enforcement and redress arrangements in place.
Measures to remedy any failure to meet promised standards should
be spelled out clearly in the form of the Public Service Guarantees
themselves. Redress should be made in a fashion appropriate to
the circumstances of the particular entitlement, and should aim
to restore individuals to the position they would have been in
had the standard been achieved in the first place. (Paragraph
77)
16. We believe there
is a very strong case to institute Public Service Guarantees that
empower users by allowing them to claim their rights to public
services. Setting out clear entitlements to public services empowers
people and strengthens their attachment to publicly provided services.
As the Government clarifies the future direction of public service
reform, introducing Public Service Guarantees would be a clear
indication that, in the provision of public services, it genuinely
intends to put people first. (Paragraph 79)
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