1.1 BACKGROUND
To achieve Vision 2030 “to make Jamaica the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business”, the Public Sector must improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of government services that will support the private sector to be an engine of growth, and ensure citizens are able to access services that enhance
their quality of life.
Ministry Paper No. 56/02 dated September 2002 and titled, “Government at your Service: Public Sector Modernisation Vision and Strategy 2002-2012,” articulated the vision of “…A Public Sector with a performance culture, client-focused and results-oriented, constantly seeking ways to improve the delivery of public services.” In this regard, several initiatives have been undertaken towards creating ‘a Public Sector organised around the needs of its customers, directly accountable to them through guarantees of service that is of the highest quality, accessible, […] integrated, responsive and cost-effective, and which assures redress when things go wrong.’
In 2015, the Cabinet Office undertook a quantitative and qualitative assessment of customer service and service delivery for approximately fourteen (14) services across seven government sectors. These sectors were Health, Social Welfare, National Securities and Immigration, Justice, Revenues, Investment & Industry and Agriculture. The purpose of the assessment was to accurately identify the issues to be addressed as part of developing a comprehensive and robust framework for customer service improvement, and to establish an empirical baseline against which improvements could be assessed.
The results of the Assessment are expected to:
- provide an understanding of the current level of customer service delivery by public sector entities and their clients’ level of satisfaction with the services delivered;
- identify gaps in service delivery in order to employ intervention strategies; and
- develop a new measurement baseline for on-going assessment of public sector improvements.