Better Quality Services
guidance for senior managers
by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Cabinet Minister
for Public Service
The Government is re-inventing Britain. We want all Government services to be of the
very highest quality, efficient, responsive and customer-focused.
We are working with the private sector through competition to achieve this. What
matters to the citizen, and therefore to the Government, is quality for the customer at
the most reasonable cost to the taxpayer. If these are right, the distinctions between
public and private are not so important. We want to encourage business to play a fuller
role in providing public services. That is why we stress Public Private Partnerships.
The key is the energy, commitment and skill of people. Nurturing commitment, consulting
staff and their representatives, training people and supporting them through change is
what is expected of senior managers in Departments – and of our private sector
partners. We also stress partnership with staff and their recognised trade unions –
or other independent representatives. The challenge for all of us is to remove the fear of
change, so that together we can ensure better quality services for the customers and users
of Government services at optimal cost to the taxpayer.
Permanent Secretaries, and Chief Executives, should ensure that their organisations are
systematically seeking out ways to achieve better quality services at optimal cost. This
guidance and its accompanying handbook will help and I commend them to you, so that,
together, we can better serve our country's citizens.
CONTENTS
Foreword by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Introduction
The 12 Guiding Principles in Using Market Testing and
Contracting Out
What needs to be done
Insourcing
Effects on other Departments
People issues
When work transfers to another employer
Health and Safety
Openness and confidentiality
Senior Managers' responsibilities
Better Quality Services
