We also ask people what marks out the best public services what is the public service 'X Factor' that differentiates them? People speak about empathy, compassion, warmth, humaneness, respect taking the time to listen and respond to individual circumstances, and focusing help on people who need it most. So people don't want to throw away what public services can offer. In fact, they want whatever is provided, by whoever provides it, to be more like public services rather than less.
Alongside other approaches, choice is a good practical way of achieving this, and of orienting services to the needs of service users.
It is true that, when it comes to the basics, people like to expect a fair standard rather than have to seek it out. In terms of social housing, tenants will always want doors that can't be kicked in, windows that can't be burgled through and roofs that don't leak. The decent homes standard aims to achieve this for every residence to be wind and weather tight, with modern facilities by 2010.
But public services have not always been good at offering choices over and above this. When it comes to the big decision on where they live, still only 68 out of 354 housing authorities offer tenants a choice over lettings. In many cases, that means giving users a right to certain choices, rather than expecting them to struggle through the system to make their choice a reality. Clare Chamberlain of Voice for the Child in Care says: "Children in care are often expected to cope with very adult situations they have to cope with moving in with strangers, moving schools and dealing with professionals. They are left without any choice or control over who their carer is, what contact they have with birth family members."
User rights help to address this. It can lead to changes as simple as insisting that care plans are in plain English, so that children can understand what is being planned for them. Of course, choice is not always simple to integrate. It has implications for staff support, resource planning, the way costs are allocated and the technology infrastructure on offer. But the fundamental principle remains that if people have a right to certain level and choice of service it is more likely that they will get treated with respect.
Public services are a promise to the public. The more that choice encourages services to be clear about what they offer, the more honest the debate on how we build world-class services can be.
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