[The following article appears in the September 1995 edition of _Public_Sector_Quality_Report_, pages 1 and 2.] ENGLAND'S BRAINTREE EARNS ISO 9000 When the cities of Phoenix, AZ, and Christchurch, New Zealand, won the 1993 Carl Bertelsmann Prize, and with it designation as "Best Run Cities in the World," you didn't hear many complaints from the leaders of Braintree, England. After all, being the best-managed local government in your home country isn't a bad honor on which to fall back. Although that title for Braintree is unofficial, it appears to fit. In late 1993 Braintree's governing council became the first local unit of government to gain "companywide" ISO 9000 (or British Standards Institution 5750) registration for the service standards and continuous improvement processes it has established for all 70 services it delivers. Local government in Great Britain is divided among two levels: counties (providing schools, libraries, social services, police, fire and other services to an average population of more than 500,000) and districts (providing such services as housing, parks and recreation, development planning and management, and waste management for populations of roughly 100,000. What makes Braintree, in the county of Essex, special among Great Britain's districts? By way of example, Braintree: * Tracks service quality and management performance aggressively using local government performance standards developed by the British Audit Commission. While dozens of standards are used to track various aspects of service, 30 to 40 are used as a barometer of overall organization performance. These measures are discussed and reviewed at least quarterly at the council level. In a 1989 survey of residents in 26 districts, Braintree earned the highest marks for its housing, refuse collection and overall customer satisfaction. * Borders on the obsessive when it comes to communicating with customers about the level of service they should expect. For example, the council publishes a "charter" for citizens, describing the service standards which the council pledges to provide. Among other things, the charter promises that council staff will answer phone calls quickly and courteously, and will respond to correspondence promptly (within seven days on letters of complaint, 10 days on other correspondence) and in plain English. The charter's provisions range from the general to the highly specific. On the one hand, it pledges that customer visits to council's offices always will be welcome. On a more detailed level, the charter specifies that the council will plant at least one tree for each of the district's 130,000 residents by the year 2000. Along with a charter describing its service commitments to the district's citizenry as a whole, Braintree has developed separate charters for industrial/commercial customers and public housing tenants. _____________________________________________________________ Braintree District Council Core Values 1. We are customer orientated 2. We believe in the abilities of the individual 3. We must be responsive and responsible 4. We believe in quality 5. We are action orientated _____________________________________________________________ * Publishes "contracts" for each of its major services. Each contract describes a service in detail, outlines the council's service standards, and gives customers information about how to lodge a complaint about poor service. In its Waste Management Services contract, for instance, Braintree specifies it will: provide each household with 52 black garbage bags every six months; collect waste on the same day each week (barring a holiday); provide notice of upcoming holidays at the same time the garbage bags are delivered; remove one bag of garden waste per week in addition to the regular household waste; close doors and gates and replace lids on trash bins; and clean up dropped refuse. As with many of Braintree's service, the contract also pledges that a duty officer will be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to handle customer inquiries. Meanwhile, in its Engineering Services contract, the council promises to respond to flooding problems within 24 hours. In Food Safety, the council promises to respond to complaints about contaminated food or unsanitary restaurants within three working days. To give you an idea of the extent to which the council goes to inform citizens of its service standards, Braintree even publishes a contract for its recreational swimming program. * Disseminates detailed complaint-handling instructions to employees, including step-by-step procedures for responding to a complaint by phone versus a complaint by letter, along with guidelines for how elected councillors should respond to complaints. * Operates an employee suggestion system and a "lookout scheme," in which employees and councillors are encouraged to report any lapses in service quality that they might witness. * Devotes funds equal to 2.5 percent of total payroll in management, communication and customer awareness training. * Maintains council office hours of 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with emergency service personnel available by phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. * Compensates employees on a pay-for-performance basis, based on attaining annual personal goals established by each worker and his or her supervisor. * Encourages customer feedback via a suggestion system, and has customer satisfaction survey cards available at all service locations. CONTACT: Robert Atkins, assistant chief executive, Braintree District Council, Causeway House, Braintree, Essex, CM7 6HB, 01376, 552525. [For further information about PSQR or to subscribe, contact: Public Sector Quality Report 17733 Kingsway Path Lakeville, MN 55044-5209 Phone: (612) 898-5058 Fax: (612) 892-7710 e-mail: 74363.3644@compuserve.com]