The Citizen's Charter was a British political initiative launched by the then Prime Minister, John Major, on 22 July 1991, less than a year into his premiership.
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Aims
It aimed to improve public services in the UK by:
All services would have to publish clear targets for levels of service. Dozens did so, from hospitals to prison services, local government offices to fire services.
One part of the initiative was the granting of "Charter Marks" to those public bodies meeting defined standards.
Reception
The initiative was widely criticized for claiming to improve public services while reducing money available for them, and for introducing private methods of management in the public sector. It was also claimed that the result was a "box-ticking mentality" concentrating on the measurable, rather than on the individual users of services.