HC Deb 15 October 2002 vol 390 cc172-3
34. Mr. Ben Chapman (Wirral, South)

If he will make a statement on the progress with monitoring customer satisfaction with the delivery of public services. [71403]

The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Mr. Douglas Alexander)

Thirty pieces of research were undertaken over a three-year period from 1998 through the people's panel. This research stimulated a significant increase in the amount of customer feedback collected by Departments and contributed to the reform agenda for customer-focused public service and effective allocation of public resources.

Mr. Chapman

Does my hon. Friend agree that given the levels of investment now being put into public services, people might reasonably expect to find improvements in quality, productivity and timeliness in their delivery? What plans does he have for the benchmarking of public service standards so that people can be told effectively whether or not those are achieved?

Mr. Alexander

My hon. Friend will be aware that benchmarking exists in a number of Departments. Perhaps the best known example is the British crime survey undertaken by the Home Office. I should also point out that the Prime Minister's recent speeches, pamphlets and comments make our determination clear to the whole country not just to put resources into public services, but to match those resources with reform and thereby achieve the productivity and efficiency gains of which my hon. Friend speaks.

Mr. Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst)

Does the Minister accept that asking people whether they are satisfied or not is an important part of the process? Why do the Government persist in denying choice to the customers of public services? When will they allow patients and parents to choose to seek another source of a public service if they are dissatisfied? It is one thing to ask them: why not let them vote with their feet?

Mr. Alexander

I commend to the right hon. Gentleman the Fabian pamphlet written by the Prime Minister just before the party conferences which made clear our ambition to have not just universal provision but the customised service that the British people now desire. There is, however, a fundamental divide between those of us who want such choices within the public sector and those who would starve the public sector of the resources necessary to match the reform.