Excellence in Public Service Delivery Roy Stephenson Deputy Director: Policy Projects

1. Excellence in Public Service DeliveryRoy StephensonDeputy Director: Policy Projects

2. Policy Projects Team: Government CommunicationCABINET OFFICE • THE TEAM

3. Team Tasks • Policy and Content Responsibility for Customer Service Excellence (CSE) including future developments • Managing relationship and standards with 4 accreditation bodies • Marketing and promoting CSE strategically • Managing and actively engaging key stakeholders: • HM Treasury (Linkages with PSA targets etc) • MoJ and Home Office on Engagement and Citizen Empowerment • Delivery Council, Customer Insight Forum and Contact Council • Service Transformation Team • Public Services Reform Team (Excellence and Fairness) • Analysis and Evaluation of CSE results and lessons learned • Identification and Dissemination of Best Practice and Innovation • Leading various related projects on wider engagement and Insight issues • Engaging on EU policy for public administration Innovation

4. The Background:Focus on the Customer – Drivers of Change • Demographic changes brought about by shifts in the size and composition of family households and an ageing population have meant that service providers need to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse user base • As real incomes have grown and access to information has become easier, so people’s expectations of services have risen • Commercial and technological innovations in communications have opened up new channels of delivery, creating further challenges for public service providers. The challenge of a fragmented and fast moving social media world. • A progressive erosion in the relationship between the individual and the state has led to government activities being seen as increasingly irrelevant. Social disengagement has made large numbers of the public harder to reach. • Driven by global competition, the offerings of leading commercial players have raised the standard of what constitutes an acceptable level of service

5. Many organisations/sectors will look at customer focus from their own perspective BUT citizens are in the market for a variety of services (education/health, transport etc) • Measurement and Insight about customers is only powerful if we make effective use of the information. It ca be vital for: - cutting down bureaucracy - simplifying and redesigning - joining up - stopping doing some things

6. The Background:Charter Mark and a National Customer Service Standard Review Outcomes Key recommendations……. • New customer service standard based around key drivers of satisfaction • Must be a challenge to old and new customers • Must be rigorous and Meaningful • Day to day administration outsourced from government • Non burdensome for those that use it • An important part of transformational government • A new name and brand to reflect the change of direction

7. The Background:Excellence and Fairness sets out a vision of world class public services • Excellence and Fairness, published in June 2008, sets out a vision of world class public services achieved by: • empowering citizens; • enhancing professionalism; and • government playing a more strategic role • The delivery of Excellence and Fairness is currently being promoted through the PSA Assessment Framework and reform programmes in specific services, such as the Policing Green Paper and the NHS Next Stage Review Citizen empowerment Excellence and Fairness New professionalism Strategic leadership • Citizen empowerment – greater power to people to control services • New professionalism – professionals and front line staff across all public services responding to the needs of the public and being accountable to them • Strategic leadership – setting a clear vision, not micromanaging

8. How does CSE Fit in to this picture? • Key Drivers of Satisfaction • Draws on Principles of Public Services Reform • Developed in Partnership with Transformational Government Agenda • Closely linked with the work of the Customer Insight Forum and products: - Guidance on Satisfaction Measurement - Guidance on Customer Journey Mapping • ‘Customer Insight in Public Services: A Primer’ published by Cabinet Office in October 2006

10. From Charter Mark to Customer Service Excellence – What is it? • A driver of continuous improvement. Enables organisations to self assess their capability in relation to customer focused service delivery using a new online self-assessment tool, identifying areas and methods for improvement. • A skills development tool. Supportsindividuals and teams within the organisation to explore and acquire new skills in the area of customer focus and customer engagement, building their capacity for delivering improved services. • An independent validation of achievement. Encourages organisations to seek formal certification and thus demonstrate their excellence, identify key areas for improvement and celebrate their success.

11. What are we looking to achieve? Success of the scheme with service users will be with improved engagement And improved delivery. Ministers and Officials will also look at its ability to add value and knowledge to our view of what is happening at the front line. Initial results from self assessment; pre assessment and actual assessment are beginning to build this picture.

12. Give you insight into your organisation. - How customer focused are you? - What are the strengths and weaknesses in your organisation in relation to customer issues? • Give you insight into your customers - Introducing techniques to understand customer groups and their specific needs - building skills to help you develop a truly customer focused culture in your organisation What can it do?

13. Improve the relationship with and satisfaction of your customers. - Emphasis on customer experience and satisfaction - Flexible but challenging requirements appropriate to the service • Build real team spirit and morale. - Previous experience suggests this is a key benefit - Empowers staff and captures their insight • Develop individuals and the team and improving their skills - Support material builds knowledge of concepts such as customer journey mapping, satisfaction measurement and developing customer insight - Involves the entire organisation in new techniques for delivering better services What can it do?

14. Criterion 1: Customer Insight • Criterion 2: The culture of the organisation • Criterion 3: Information and Access • Criterion 4: Delivery • Criterion 5: Timeliness and Quality of Service How it works – the elements

15. Key Differences with Charter Mark • Generally CSE looks at fewer issues but in more depth than Charter Mark • Clearly focussed on the customer and citizen as the USP of the standard • Tries not to overlap with other standards, models or Inspections • Much more supporting material and service improvement help provided on line • Much improved self assessment tool • Tied in much more closely to continual improvement cycle and identification and dissemination of innovative practice

16. Why is Feedback Important? • Closing the quality loop – allowing government to identify success; • good practice; innovation and stretch points • Assessors as eyes and ears on the ground – understanding the • pressure points; ensuring good practice is identified particularly in • these stretch areas; • Identifying developmental needs and reporting back to Cabinet Office

17. Results So Far: Self Assessment

18. Overall Plus/Negative Balance….

19. Ranked List (On Line Self Assessment) 1 Criterion 1 Customer Insight (Most Challenging) 2 Criterion 5 Timeliness and Quality 3 Criterion 4 Delivery 4 Criterion 2 Culture of the Organisation 5 Criterion 3 Information and Access (Least Challenging)

20. 2.1.5: We protect customers’ privacy both in face to face discussions and in transfer and storage of customer information (Sample 217)

21. 3.1.1: We make information about the full range of services we provide available to our customers and potential customers, including how and when people can contact us, how our services are run and who is in charge.(Sample 160)

22. 4.1.1: We have challenging standards for our main services, which take account of our responsibility for delivering national and statutory standards and targets. (Sample 147)

23. 3.3.2: We evaluate how customers interact with the organisation through access channels and we use this information to identify possible service improvements and offer better choices . (Sample 147)

24. 1.3.4: We set challenging and stretching targets for customer satisfaction and our levels are improving. (Sample 217)

25. 5.3.3: Our performance in relation to timeliness and quality of service compares well with that of similar organisations.. (Sample 136)

26. 2.1.2: We use customer insight to inform policy and strategy and to prioritise service improvement activity . (Sample 170)

27. Results Comparison

28. CSE Results....Next Steps • Full analysis of results particularly at sub element level • Identification of ‘stretch’ points and skills/support material needs • Analysis by service type • Identification if possible of excellent practitioners in areas of particular stretch (case studies) • Further marketing of CSE as tool to identify and bridge the ‘Insight’ gap • Analysis or pre assessment and post assessment results – to identify the cost/benefit of closing the gap

29. Contact Details: WWW.CSE.CABINETOFFICE.GOV.UK