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How to draw up a local charter
Contents
Chapter 8 Format and design
Key points
 | Is your charter short and punchy? |
| Have you used plain language? |
| Is the typeface a reasonable size? |
| Have you used just one font in each block of text? |
| Can you get versions in other languages and formats? |
| If so, have you advertised this to your users? |
| Is the document attractive without being too glossy? |
| Will the front cover draw readers in? |
| Is your charter well laid out? |
| Is the information available on the Internet? |
8.1 You will have your own ideas about the format and design of your
charter. The important point is that the presentation should make people
want to use it, and make it easy for them to do so.
Format
Remember that too much information will put readers off. Bear the
following in mind:
| consider how best to reach your users. This will vary
depending on the service. In most cases a written charter will be
right. But don’t forget other or additional means of communicating -
video, posters, Internet etc; |
| keep your charter short and punchy. Ideally, it should
be no more than four to six pages long. If longer, see if anything can
be deleted; in particular make sure you do
not include too much general information on your service or
organisation. If you cannot shorten it, include a short summary and a
contents page with page numbers; |
| use plain language and avoid jargon. If you
have to use jargon, give a simple explanation of what it means. If you
can afford to do so, have the draft charter approved by the Plain
English Campaign or another Plain English organisation (see contact
details in Annex C); |
| use personal references (in other words we and you) to
make your charter sound warmer and friendlier; and |
| ask your users if the language and layout are clear. |
Don’t forget other means of
communicating – video, posters, Internet etc.
8.3 If your organisation produces a series of charters covering
individual services, check to see if there is, or should be, a corporate
"house-style." Local authorities may wish to consider linking a
charter with other related publications to help user recognition, such as
an A-Z guide to services, annual reports and performance indicator
publications.
8.4 If many of your users are from ethnic minorities, consider how best
to get your charter and the information it contains across to them. You
could ask those people who work in your organisation who have contact with
minority users to talk it through with them, or publish it in different
languages (and say that it is available in these languages). This should
be on the front or back page in the other language, otherwise people who
do not read English may not even open the publication. For advice on
communicating with people who have difficulty reading, writing, or
understanding English, refer to ‘Now We’re Talking’ by the Consumer
Congress (see Annex C for details).
8.5 If your charter applies to the people of Wales, it should be
available in Welsh. It may be helpful to set out separately in your
charter what facilities are available for Welsh speakers. (For more help
and information about the Welsh Language Act refer to the contacts list at
Annex C).
8.6 If there is enough demand, consider making your charter available
in braille, on tape, in large print or on computer disk, or other
electronically accessible versions. And, if appropriate, use British Sign
Language or Makaton (a pictorial language for people with learning
disabilities). Again, you should say that it is available in these
formats. 8.7 For advice on how to make information available to people
with particular needs, contact the Royal National Institute for the Blind,
the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, the British Deaf
Association, or MENCAP. Also have a look at the ‘Informability Manual’,
by Wendy Gregory and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. See Annex C
for suggested publications and contact details.
The City of Liverpool, Housing Advice Service describes
in its Customer Charter the way in which it meets the needs of users with
special needs. It has a free translation service to support information
available in eight languages; large print and audio tape versions;
induction loop facilities; all centres accessible to wheelchair users;
accessible toilets, play areas for children, baby changing facilities,
Freephone telephone service and will visit users at another location or at
home if this is necessary.
Northumbria Ambulance Service NHS Trust carried out
market research with their patients and the hospitals which buy their
services. This identified that approximately 75% of their non-emergency
users were aged over 65 (almost 50% over 75). They transport over 1,000
non-emergency patients every day, so this represents a large proportion of
their users. They follow RNIB clear-print guidelines when they produce any
literature for these patients, and have produced their non-emergency
leaflets in large print, braille and on audio cassette.
Internet
8.8 If possible, you should make the information contained in your
charter available on the Internet. Consult the "Guidelines for
Government Websites" for guidance (see the publications list at Annex
C). You will need to bear in mind that some people will:
| wish to read the document on the screen. Thus, the text should be in
a size and form that is easy to read (for all your users), and
paragraphs should be kept short. Ask your users whether the layout is
clear. But remember that just publishing your charter on the web may
not be the best way of making such information accessible to your
users. You should also give users access from your home page to
specific information on your standards, complaints procedure, and
contact arrangements; |
| wish to print off the information. Provide information on-line in a
format that enables the user to print off a user-friendly copy. |
| be using older equipment. Graphics can significantly add to the time
it takes to view or print a document from the Internet on-line. You
may therefore wish to also provide a text-only version. |
8.9 One of the benefits of on-line publishing is the ease with which
you can keep documents up-to-date. You can also provide links to sites
that will translate the content of your charter into other languages.
Design
8.10 Keep the following in mind:
| an eye-catching front page is important. If it is
attractive, it is far more likely to draw readers in and encourage
them to read your charter. Avoid using pictures of senior staff:
research suggests that this is disliked by the public; |
| do not over-design your charter. Keep it simple and
user-friendly. Flashy documents are off-putting and seen as a waste of
money. If you can afford it, produce several rough designs and get
users’ views; |
| use a reasonable-sized typeface (at least 12 point). A
typeface that is too small may be hard for some people to read. Avoid
a light-weight typeface as they are harder to read; |
| use headings, tables and illustrations to break up the text; |
| do not print over background pictures or logos. This
makes reading difficult; |
| use colour and tints to make the presentation more
eye-catching. But
be careful not to use too much colour or combine the wrong colours
(for example, green and red), which people who are poor sighted or
colour blind will find hard to read; |
| try to use just one font in each block of text.
A combination of too many different fonts can be hard to read; |
| include interesting photos, graphics or icons,
but do not overdo it! People often think that cartoons, for example, are
talking down to them; and use matt or silk paper finish, never gloss, as
this reflects light and makes reading more difficult. |
Use of the Modernising Government logo
8.11 The Modernising Government logo may be used on local charters that
have been produced in accordance with this guidance. The Cabinet Office
will audit the quality of national and local charters on a regular basis,
and reserves the right to ask for the logo to be removed from any local
charter that does not follow the principles set out in this guide. Copies
of the logo are available on 020 7 270 6425.
Chapter 9 Policy and distribution
Key points
| How should you publicise and distribute your charter and its
contents? |
| Will you reach as many of your users as possible, including those
who have a problem with your service? |
| How many copies of your charter will you need? |
| How much staff time and cost will be involved? |
| How will you launch the charter to people who work in your
organisation? |
9.1 Your local charter sets out the relationship between you and the
people who use your service. The document itself is important, but it is
more important that your users know what it contains. So you need to think
carefully about how you will get this information across when people
need it.
9.2 Make sure information on your service is available when people
first come to you, or ideally before. For some services there is a very
clear first point of contact. But sometimes this is more varied. You can
give out information successfully in ways other than just through a paper
charter, for example face-to-face, through local TV or radio, in newspaper
adverts or on posters. Estimate how much the publicity is likely to cost
and how many copies of your charter you will need.
Publicity
9.3 Publicity is important at the launch of your charter to make the
most of its effect. Try to invite to the launch as many as possible of
your users who have been involved in developing your charter. This is also
an opportunity to publicise other performance information on both your
organisation and your partners.
9.4 There are many different ways of publicising your charter and the
standards it contains. When you consult your users (see Chapter 4 -
Consulting and involving people), you could ask them how best to spread
the information in the charter. You need to think about when and where
your users want to know things, and what they are likely to do with the
information. It is also important to see how your charter fits in with
other published information about your services. If you do not have room
for all the things that you could include in your charter, you could
publicise these through other means, such as public information leaflets,
information points and posters.
The Chamber of Commerce, Training and Enterprise,
Herefordshire and Worcestershire, provide the public with information
about their full range of services by publishing regular magazines and
newsletters, annual reports and corporate and business plans including
executive summaries. They hold annual public meetings each year and use a
wide range of media sources including local press and radio.
9.5 But above all else, the content of your charter, in particular
whether or not it is meeting people’s needs, will determine the success
or otherwise of your efforts.
Make sure you give everyone who
works in your organisation a copy, or summarise it.
Distribution
9.6 Try to make your charter and its contents available to as many of
your users and potential users as possible, at times when they are likely
to need it. Make sure you give everyone who works in your organisation a
copy, or summarise it and display the standards prominently, for example,
on posters (but make sure everyone knows how to get a full copy). Someone
in your organisation should be responsible for maintaining stocks of
charters. Good communication within your organisation is also important
for a successful launch.
9.7 Remember, users need to know about your service all the time, so
you should not publicise your charter as a one-off exercise.
Supply charters at reception
points and where people sit and read information.
9.8 Consider using a combination of the following methods to publicise
and distribute your charter:
| press releases when you launch your charter (consider
a photo-call) or when you report on achievements; |
| articles in local newspapers, or local radio or
television interviews. Publishing your charter (or the standards
it contains) in local newspapers is a good way of getting it to new
users as well as to existing ones. Brief local journalists, especially
advice columnists, about the charter so that they can refer to it when
covering other relevant stories. Many organisations have said that they
have achieved most success from using local radio or newspapers; |
| send a copy of your charter when you write to users or
include with forms or other information. The average person receives
so much mail that they are not likely to keep hold of a simple charter
leaflet. So it could be an advantage, if you can afford to do so, to
include charter information in documents they are likely to keep for
some other reason, for example, in phone directories, diaries, on
calendars, timetables and so on; |
| deliver your charter door to door if there is a clear
justification for this; in other words, if your services affect
everyone in a particular area. You could ask your local authority if
you can include it in any magazine mail-out they may have; |
| hand out complaints forms (highlighting the standards
you aim to achieve) when something goes wrong; |
| put up posters and display leaflets publicising your
charter wherever your users are likely to see them, for example, in
your reception areas. Make sure they are clearly presented, written in
plain language and regularly updated. If a significant number of your
users are from ethnic minorities, consider printing posters and
leaflets in minority languages. Supply charters at reception points
and where people sit and read information, for example, in waiting
rooms; |
A copy of Harlow College’s Charter is given to all full
and part-time students when they enrol for a course. Students can also get
this on the college web site or from college reception. Audio tape and
video introductions to the Charter for Further Education are available
from the college library where any student who requires written
information converted to tape format can arrange this also.
| send information and copies of your charter to
special-interest groups, advice agencies, for example,
Citizens Advice Bureaux, and libraries. Offer to provide further
training or workshops on the contents of your charter; |
| place information
screens in public areas; |
| tell people who work in your organisation about your charter
and the standards it contains through staff newsletters, team
briefings and noticeboards, well in advance of its publication. Your
staff should know exactly what you expect of them once the charter is
published: they may have to handle queries from the public about it
straightaway. |
9.9 Remember, when using any of these methods, to include a contact
point for people to order copies of the charter.
Chapter 10 Monitoring and Reviewing Charters
Key points
| How will you monitor the usefulness of your charter?
| How do you propose to review it, and what mechanisms will you
use?
| How and where will you publish the outcome?
| How will you let people know what is to happen as a result of
the review? |
| | |
10.1 You should give someone in your organisation responsibility for
measuring and monitoring the success of your charter, and for revising the
charter itself. You may already have set up ways of monitoring the way
service is delivered within your organisation (see paragraphs 5.17 and
5.18), and may have staff trained to do this work. Someone will need to
pull the information together. Complaints, too, should be managed in a
positive way and used to inform service changes. Information from
complaints analysis should be fed back to staff and users.
10.2 Developing your charter should be an active process. The speed
with which information contained in your charter changes will determine
how often you need to revise it. You may need to update it every year.
Reviews of your service, such as those carried out under Best Value, are
also an opportunity to revise your charter. Remember to put a date on your
charter, so people can be sure that what they have is up to date.
The original Suffolk Constabulary Charter was produced in
1992 to last for some years. Some of the information it contained was
quickly out of date and had to be revised. The Constabulary had also been
producing a performance report each year, and in 1996 it was decided that
it would be sensible to combine the two documents into a charter and
performance report. It was then found that there was confusion between the
Force Aims and Service Standards and the force now produces a leaflet
"Our Service Standards" to advise people what to expect and
reports in an Annual Report, news media and the Suffolk Policing Plan.
10.3 There are different ways of monitoring and reviewing the
usefulness of your charter. You may already have processes in place that
you can build on. A telephone number on each charter, which users are
encouraged to call with comments or suggestions, or a reply-paid card,
could help encourage feedback. You should use more than one type of
monitoring to make sure the results are valid. Ensure that you fully
involve your staff and users.
The City of Liverpool, Housing Advice Service includes in
its Customer Charter a pre-paid card, inviting comments about the service
they provide. They say ‘We welcome your views on how we are performing.
They can help shape our future plans’.
The Metro Passenger Charter, Tyne and Wear, contains a
commitment to publishing the views of their customers and acting on the
results. Using market research they monitor a sample of passenger opinion
regularly. Every 3 months passenger satisfaction with train and station
cleanliness, train arrival and ticket information is published, and
targets for the following year are given against current performance.
As part of their continuous performance evaluation, Hayle
Community School in Cornwall include a tear-off evaluation form in
their parent’s charter which asks parents or guardians to evaluate the
school’s performance and suggest improvements against:
| Setting standards;
| Provision of open and full information;
| Consultation and involvement;
| Access and promotion of choice;
| Treat all fairly;
| Putting things right;
| Using resources effectively;
| Innovation and improvement;
| and Work with other providers; |
| | | | | | | |
These criteria draw on the Principles of Public Service used to assess
Charter Mark award applications and are supplemented by the tenth Charter
Mark criteria "Provide user satisfaction". (see Annex D for
details of the Charter Mark award scheme).
Wakefield and Pontefract Community Health NHS Trust’s Charter
is monitored every year by sending out a questionnaire to everyone who
used their service during a particular week. The Trust also provide
comment boxes, which are displayed in all 55 health premises under posters
describing in English and Urdu the national and local charters. They
collect comments every month and produce a poster of all the comments,
with a response to each. They display this poster alongside the charter
posters. They also produce a poster and leaflet showing the results of the
yearly charter survey.
Kent County Council Arts & Libraries display
free-post customer comment cards in their premises at all times. People
can post these to the Director or place them in boxes provided.
Generally a local senior manager will answer the cards. If a matter has
been raised concerning the whole department, a senior policy &
communication officer will reply. They also maintain a customer comments
database to record and analyse comments and complaints. They use this to
monitor trends and provide information for planning services.
10.4 In order to encourage the involvement of users and others you
should draw attention to changes that are made as a result of their input.
Draw attention to the changes in your charter when you publish a revised
version, for example within the charter itself (perhaps via an insert), on
your website, and in newsletters and annual reports for users and staff to
see. |
