Workshop on Citizens Charter

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Workshop on Citizens Charter

• Organized by
• Administrative Reforms Department
• Government of N.C.T. of Delhi
• February 13, 2003

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Workshop on How to prepare a Citizen Charter
and How to review the existing Charter
presented by Transparency International
India Lajpat Bhawan, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi 110
024 Telephone [phone] E-mail
tindia_at_vsnl.com, tiindia_at_hotmail.com
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a) A statement of the standards of service users
can expect to receive b) The arrangements for
seeking a remedy should something go wrong
and c) Information on the service provided
(including contact numbers and addresses).
d) For improving government services, or else as
a means of addressing localized problems within a
particular sector. e) Charters set out the
procedure for making complaints. f) Charters can
be used to promote freedom of information. g) Typi
cally, Charters set out the governments
commitments to the public it serves -
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The Citizens Charters applies to all essential
services like Electricity Telephone Gas and
Water. Other public services like Education
Hospitals Railways Public Construction and
Roads Police Passport Election Customs
Excise Taxation Employment Exchanges
Municipal Services etc.
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6 Key
The Charter works for you, the user of public
services, by the application of
Principles
These Principle are
Standards
Information and Openness
Choice and Consultation
Courtesy and Helpfulness
Putting Things Right
Value for Money
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ELEMENTS OF CITIZENS CHARTERS

• Citizens Charters
• are non-statutory (i.e. they do not have the
  force of law)
• are intended to increase citizens participation
• define standards of service and,
• publication of information about services.
• Key elements of a Citizens Charter
• Standards
• maximum response times (for both responding to
  complaints and to written enquiries, i.e.,
  replies to letters)
• maximum waiting time for appointments
  andcharges and fees.
• Monitoring
• Complaints

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The Local Charter What is a local Charter? How
does a local charter differ from a national
charter? Should your organization have a local
charter? Going through the process of developing
a local charter
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How to draw up a local charter?

• Simple, accessible documents which tell users
  about an organizations service, the standards it
  will provide so that both users and staff know
  what the public can expect and how they can
  contribute to setting them
• Based on widespread consultation with users and
  front-line staff
• Clear and effective in the remedies they set out
  when things go wrong
• Supported by well-developed systems and
  procedures, including for staff training,
  complaints handling and feedback, as well as for
  reporting and reviewing standards and
• Publicized in management and public documents, so
  that the organization is publicly accountable to
  users for delivering its standards.

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• What should your charter include?
• Spell out the standards of service users can
  expect.
• Tell users how to complain if something goes
  wrong or service standards are met, or how to
  offer a suggestion for improvement.
• Make clear how users can contact you and get
  further information.
• Make sure that the information is accessible and
  easy to understand
• Fully involve users and your staff in its
  preparation
• Encourage a partnership between your
  organization, its users and other service
  providers
• Explain how you plan for further improvement
• Assure people that they will receive a fair
  service
• Say if there is any relevant legislation.

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Going through the process of developing a
charter will

• Help you to clarify what people want from your
  service, and target resources accordingly
• Help you and your staff in the work to improve
  services and promote quality, and ensure that
  their knowledge and experience is put to good
  use
• Encourage your users to provide feedback on how
  your service is delivered (you can use this
  feedback to improve your service and raise
  standards)
• Explain to your users how they can help you
  deliver the services they want
• Help drive and sustain a process of continuous
  improvement in service quality
• Help foster good relations with your users
  generally, most of whom will welcome your efforts
  to take account of their view.

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Getting Started

• Plan ahead
• Identify who uses your service and others with an
  interest (eg. Other service providers), and
  decide how best to involve them
• Consider how best to involve your staff
• Get commitment from top management
• Decide who will lead on the work
• Work out how much it will cost and how long it
  will take
• Announce your intention to produce / review your
  charter
• Collect information on what aspects of your
  service matter most to users

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Consulting and Involving People

• Think about how you will consult and involve
  users and potential users.
• Choose methods that are suitable for your
  purposes and convenient for your users
• Allow plenty of time for the consultation.
• Decide who will take the lead
• Make sure the people you consult include people
  from different areas and age groups, and
  different ethnic and social backgrounds
• Identify and clearly communicate the issues you
  can have an effect on and improve, and those that
  you cannot
• Consult and involve people at all levels in your
  organization
• Consult other service providers with whom you
  work
• Decide how you will give feedback to users and
  staff

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Local Charter Standards

• Focus on key issues interest to users
• Look at the service from the users view point
  and avoid management targets
• Set standards that are challenging but realistic
• Use plain language
• Make sure standards are measurable
• Have systems in place to monitor standards
  regularly
• Publish performance against standards
• Regularly review the effectiveness of standards,
  and update them.

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• Putting things right
• Tell people what will happen if you do not meet
  your standards
• Say you welcome comments and complaints, and act
  on them.
• Set out clearly how to complain, whom to, and how
  long it will take to resolve.
• Promise a fair investigation and tell people if
  they can complain to an independent reviewer or
  ombudsman
• Say you will learn from complaints made
• Working with other service providers
• Work closely with other providers to improve
  services delivery and help users identify and
  contact related service providers.
• Format and Design
• Make your charter short and punchy
• Use plain language
• Use a reasonable size typeface
• Use just one font in each block of text
• Consider producing versions in other languages
  and formats and advertise their availability to
  users.
• Make the information available on the internet if
  possible
• Print the publication date clearly on the cover

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• Publicity and distribution
• Think about how to publicize and distribute your
  charter and its contents
• Choose methods that will reach as many users as
  possible, including those who have a problem with
  your service.
• Decide how many copies of your charter you will
  need
• Decide how to launch the charter to people who
  work in your organization
• Ensure the charter is published on your website
  with a link through to the full list of national
  charters on the service first website.
• Measuring and monitoring charters
• Think about how you will measure the usefulness
  of your charter
• Decide how you will review it, and what
  mechanisms you will use
• Decide how and where you will publish the outcome
• Make clear what action you will take as a result
  of the review
• Overall
• Does your charter follow the principles set out?
• Arrangements for clearance

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A complaint is any expression of
dissatisfaction that needs a response.
COMPLAINTS HANDLING SYSTEM
Devising an effective complaints handling system
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How do complainants expect to be treated?

• When people complain
• they want six essential things
• to be heard
• to be understood
• to be respected
• a satisfactory explanation
• an apology and
• remedial action as soon as possible.

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An effective complaints handling system should
provide

• a straight forward means for customers to make a
  complaint to the organization
• a procedure for investigating a complaint
• a means of keeping the complainant informed about
  progress and outcome
• redress where complaints are substantiated
• a means of preventing recurrence of identified
  problems
• feedback for management decisions on resource
  allocation, priortisation, strategic planning,
  service deliver and quality assurance and
• a means for staff to raise their concerns in ways
  which do not have them open in retribution by
  superiors or colleagues.

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A good complaints handling system should be

• easily accessible and conspicuous to customers
  and staff alike
• simple to invoke and operate, with clearly
  defined stages and responsibilities
• efficient, offering speedy action and resolution
  within pre-determined time limits
• objective and free from undue influence or
  interference
• confidential so as to protect the complainants
  privacy.

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An effective complaints handling system should be
clear on

• The definition of a complaint
• Who can complain
• The stages of the procedure
• The form of complaints
• Time limits
• Redress
• Language
• Further channels
• Channels such as the Ombudsman
• How to deal with difficult customers

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Remedies may take many forms and may

• Explain why the action complained about was
  taken
• Apologize with sincerity whenever warranted
• Try to meet any reasonable requests that would
  resolve the matter, or take some particular
  action, such as providing a service which has not
  been provided
• Provide further information to customers about
  the services available or
• Allocate a different officer to oversee the
  customers case.

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Complaints should be monitored

• Where did things go wrong ?
• Was this kind of problem / complaint foreseen?
• Was there a system in place to deal with such
  problems ?
• Was the system operating as it should have ?
  If not, why did the system fail?
• How can the organization do better in future?
• Could this kind of problem /complaint recur?
• What likelihood is there of recurrence?
• What would prevent recurrence?
• Would the cure be worse than the problem?
• Would the cost and complication of guarding
  against another mistake end up being
  counter productive?

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REDRESS MANAGEMENT
What if an organization is unsuccessful in
resolving the complaint?

• (a) Citizens Advice Centres
• (b) Telephone Hotlines
• (C) Whistleblowing
• (d) Public Interest Litigation
• (e) Using the Internet
• (f) Social Audit Panels

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Charter Mark Scheme
for the certification of Citizens Charters.
What is Charter Mark? Who can apply?
The ten criteria 1. Set Standards 2. Be Open and
Provide Full Information 3. Consult and Involve
4. Encourage Access and The Promotion Of
Choice 5. Treat All Fairly 6. Put Things Right
When They Go Wrong 7. Use Resources
Effectively 8. Innovate and Improve 9. Work With
Other Providers 10. Provide Users Satisfaction
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REVIEW OF CITIZENS CHARTERS
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INTRODUCTION REVIEW OF CITIZENS CHARTER Check List

• Are you responsible for drawing up a new public
  service Charter, or revising an existing one?
• Are you a consumer who cares about the quality of
  the health, education, transport and other public
  services you use and pay for?
• This checklist is for everyone users and
  providers who wants citizens charters to be
  effective.
• Not all our guidelines will apply to every
  charter and the examples we give are only
  suggestions.
• The checklist only concerns charter documents.
  There are other important questions, which are
  part of a different study, for instance Are the
  commitments made in a charter really achievable?
  Are they really happening? Is the service
  improving?
• The first section of the checklist deals with
  general issues and the others focus on three key
• charter principles for public services.
• Charters in general Charters should be for
  consumers and take into account their particular
  needs.
• The obligation to consult consumers should be
  consulted by public service providers.
• The obligation to inform and be accountable
  Consumers need information about using the
  service, their entitlement and reasonable
  expectations, and the service should account for
  what it does.
• The obligation to provide redress Consumers
  should have access to proper procedures for
  dealing with their complaints and to provide them
  with effective and appropriate redress when
  things go wrong.

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1. CHARTERS IN GENERAL
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2. THE OBLIGATION TO CONSULT
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3. THE OBLIGATION TO INFORM AND BEACCOUNTABLE
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4. THE OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE REDRESS