Citizen's Charter

Series of proposals aimed at improving public services in the UK, unveiled by prime minister John Major in 1991. Major's ‘programme for a decade’ covered the activities of a range of public-sector bodies, including the police, the health service, schools, local authorities, and public and private utility companies. It promised better quality for consumers through the publication of service standards, the right of redress, performance monitoring, penalties for public services, tighter regulation of privatized utilities, and the increased pressures resulting from competition and privatization.

The Labour government of Tony Blair has sought to build on the charter programme, aiming to make it more ‘locally owned’ and improve public access to performance information. New charters are planned for those in long-term care and for ‘prison users’.

Published charters include the patient's charter for the health service, the taxpayer's charter for the Inland Revenue, the passenger's charter for the rail service, and a court's charter for jurors. These set out the standards of service that consumers may expect. In some cases, compensation may be claimed if performance is deficient. ‘Charter marks’ are awarded to the most successful providers of public services. The guiding principle of the charter notion, borrowed from the private sector, is that ‘the customer is king.’