Quality Schemes Task Force – Report

Summary

1. During the year, the Task Force:

Report

2. This is the report of the Quality Schemes Task Force. The Task Force was launched by Peter Kilfoyle, then Cabinet Office Parliamentary Secretary, on 21 January 1999. This was a contribution to improving the quality of public services; and the work of the Task Force is integrated into the ‘quality pledge’ in the Modernising Government White Paper of March 1999.

3. The terms of reference of the Task Force were:

4. The group was tasked with producing a final report at the end of 1999.

5. Membership of the Task Force was (full year or part):

6. The representation brought to the Task Force knowledge of the following generic quality schemes:

7. The Cabinet Office had already issued a short descriptive booklet about these schemes, showing how the holistic nature of the EFQM Excellence Model fitted well with Charter Mark, Investors in People and ISO 9000. Annex A details main Cabinet Office quality scheme initiatives.

8. The Task Force met seven times during the year - on 21 January, 11 March, 29 April, 30 June, 16 September, 21 October and 7 December 1999.

9. The Task Force created a Communications Group – of 57 quality scheme users and other practitioners. Group Members were consulted on all Task Force papers and received minutes of meetings.

10. The Task Force looked at available work on content of these schemes. Much detailed material was found on links between the various generic schemes. However, the Task Force did not consider this material to be sufficiently effective in encouraging the increased use of quality schemes in the public sector.

Consultation

11. The Task Force therefore consulted widely in the public sector to discover whether there was a demand for further guidance. A questionnaire was distributed (with help from The Improvement and Development Agency, the Northern Ireland Office and the Council of Scottish Local Authorities) which asked questions on:

12. The questionnaire asked respondents if they had considered using any of the quality schemes to develop their service. In their replies:

13. 700 questionnaires were distributed. 549 responses were received. These showed clear demand for guidance - which should describe quality schemes and their objectives, set out relationships between the schemes and other quality initiatives, indicate the resource implications for users and provide examples and case studies.

The Guidance

14. The responses also provided a wealth of data on use of and attitudes towards quality schemes, which informed the Task Force's action plan. An executive summary of the report will shortly be available from this website. The full report, costing £25 can be obtained from Martin Holt, tel: 020 7276 1743.

15. The Cabinet Office held focus group meetings with quality scheme users who were also adamant that guidance was needed and who provided valuable advice on what its format should be and on other quality scheme issues.

16. The Task Force concluded that it should issue comprehensive guidance in spring 2000. It is envisaged that hard copies will be charged for; and that it will also be available on the Internet.

17. The Task Force also decided that guidance for local government on Best Value and quality schemes would be timely and of help to enhance public services. The Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions and the Improvement and Development Agency agreed to issue this jointly with the Cabinet Office. This guidance will issue in January 2000 and will help local authorities understand how quality schemes can assist with the successful implementation of Best Value.

Assessment

18. The Task Force also considered co-operation between quality schemes on assessment. It was noted that there was a third party assessment aspect to Charter Mark, Investors in People and (usually) the ISO 9000 series. In principle overlaps between the schemes could be subject to joint assessment. Nevertheless the degree of overlap between Charter Mark and Investors in People and Charter Mark and ISO 9000 was relatively small. The degree of overlap between Investors in People and ISO 9000 was greater. Experimentation on joint assessment between these two schemes was under way.

19. The Task Force also noted that the EFQM Excellence Model usually operated through self-assessment; although there was training in assessment and there were consultancies that offered third party assessment. Third party assessment was required for award applicants. In principle there was scope for appropriately trained/approved assessors to offer assistance with the EFQM Excellence Model and any one or more of Charter Mark, Investors in People and ISO 9000. In doing so there might be scope for avoidance of double assessment vis à vis those schemes and/or better informed assessment.

20. The Task Force agreed to encourage the work on joint assessment of Investors in People and ISO 9000. It also agreed that further work was needed on co-operation on assessment between all the schemes.

10-Point Action Plan

21. The Task Force suggested a 10-point action plan:

Follow-on

22. The Task Force recommended that follow-up work would be best promoted through a Steering Group reporting to Ministers and meeting twice year. The Task Force recognised that Devolved Administrations would need to consider how these proposals would effect their own areas and decide how best to follow them up. The Steering Group would be chaired by the Cabinet Office and have:

Two working Groups would report to the Steering Group, with support from the Cabinet Office: one to promote co-ordinated marketing and the other to take forward the other Task Force recommendations.

23. The Task Force invited Cabinet Office Ministers to write to colleagues and other key contacts about work of the Task Force and its proposed action plan.

Quality Schemes Task Force  - December 1999

Annex A

Cabinet Office Initiatives

Charter Mark

The Charter Mark and Beacons Scheme in the Cabinet Office runs the Charter Mark Awards Scheme. For more details see the Charter Mark web pages or contact:

Charter Mark Awards
Cabinet Office
Admiralty Arch
The Mall
London, SW1A 2WH

Tel 020 7276 1755 - for general enquiries only

Tel 0845 30 40 430 - for the application helpline

Tel 0845 7 22 32 42 - for copies of Charter Mark documents, Self-Assessment packs, and guides

Tel 020 7403 3023 – for seminars and workshops

Investors in People

Information on introducing and working with the Standard in the public sector is available from:

Peter Jones
Learning Strategy Division
Cabinet Office
Admiralty Arch
The Mall
London SW1A 2WH

Tel: 020 7 276 1599

UK Public Sector Benchmarking Project

The UK Public Sector Benchmarking Project aims to help organisations in the public sector to improve their performance by conducting self-assessments against the Excellence Model. For more details see the Public Sector Benchmarking Service web pages, or contact: