Citizen's Charter

Aims

It aimed to improve public services in the UK by:

• Making administration accountable and more user-focused.
• Ensuring transparency and the right to information in an open and easy to understand manner.
• Taking measures to improve performance in the civil service.
• Adopting a stakeholder approach.

All public services, from hospitals to prison services, local government offices to fire services, would have to publish clear targets for levels of service. NHS patients would have guaranteed time limits for all consultations, and there were individual Charters for schools, housing tenants and motorists. Those bodies that were meeting their defined standards were granted a "Charter Mark".

The charter ensures the following:-

1) quality by improving services

2) choices for the user

3) standards specifying what to expect within a time frame

4) value for the taxpayers' money

5) accountability of the service provider

6) transparency in rules and procedures

7) proper code of conduct and grievance redressal mechanism.

Dennis Kavanagh described Major's motivation for this policy as his new perspective on public services. Having rejected privatisation of health and education, he wanted to raise the standing of the services and insisted that consumers should be treated more sensitively.