The UK Citizen’s Charter: Origins and Implementation in Three Agencies

Abstract

The article examines the political and managerial origins of John Major’s Citizen’s Charter initiative and assesses its early implementation in three governmental agencies: the Employment Agency; Inland Revenue; and British Rail. Six managerial and implementation issues are explored including: changes in awareness of the exact business an agency is in; early issues in defining service standards; performance pay; recruitment and training; the empowerment of front-line personnel; and the codetermination of services between citizen and public servant. The inherent tensions between improved services and public investment are also reviewed in the context of John Major’s political need to show both continuity with, and departures from, Thatcherism.

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