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1.1 Why bother to ask your users (and non-users) what they want or think of the service you provide? In the private sector the answer is usually obvious - if customers don't get the service they want, they go elsewhere. But the situation is different in the public sector. People often have little or no choice over who provides their public services (although you should encourage choice wherever possible). As public service users ourselves, we know, for example, that we can't choose which fire service will answer our emergency call, which council will collect our rubbish, or who to pay our tax to.
1.2 So if choice is limited, why consult? Two of the key reasons are:
 | it helps you plan, prioritise and deliver better services; and
| it creates a working partnership with your users so that they have an interest in better services.
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1.3 Before you start any form of consultation, you need to consider carefully why you are doing it and what you want to achieve.
1.4 Consultation is the only way to ensure that your services are user-focused. This guide is designed to help you get started, and point you in the right direction. It doesn't set out to debate the philosophy behind involving people in public services (for more about this see the publications list at the back). But it does give general 'good practice'
tips about consultation, introduce some of the commonly-used ways of consulting users, set out some of the issues to think about when considering each method, and summarise the pros and cons of different types
of consultation.
1.5 This guide replaces Asking Your Users . . . How to improve services through consulting your consumers, which we published in 1995 with the National Consumer Council and Consumer Congress. We have updated it to include latest thinking, additional consultation techniques, and new examples from services that have found consultation useful Ð most of them from organisations that won Charter Marks (awarded for public service excellence) in 1997.
| Benefits of consultation |
| Helps you plan services better to give users what they want, and expect.
| Helps you prioritise your services and make better use of limited resources.
| Helps you set performance standards relevant to users' needs
(and monitor them).
| Fosters a working partnership between your users and you, so they understand the problems facing you, and how they can help.
| Alerts you to problems quickly so you have a chance to put things right
before they escalate.
| Symbolises your commitment to be open and accountable: to put service first.
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