ABSTRACT
York City Council was the first local authority to produce a charter for its citizens. York’s charter consisted of a broadsheet circulated to the community containing a list of service delivery targets which were linked to the manifesto of the ruling Labour group. The Citizen’s Charter became the Conservative government’s major initiative for improving the quality of public service. The chapter explores how local authorities fit into the Citizen’s Charter process. The government has published a number of documents on the progress of the Citizen’s Charter. These include the Citizen’s Charter report back, examples of Scottish charters and a comprehensive review, Citizen’s Charter 2nd report. A number of independent studies have been carried out into particular aspects of the Citizen’s Charter. The government itself commissioned ICM Research to carry out a consumer survey. This found that 71 per cent of respondents were aware of the Citizen’s Charter in general terms.
