Charter Mark re-launched with accredited certification

On 15 ^th December 2003, after an intensive 6-month pilot programme, UKAS granted accreditation to three successful applicant bodies for the assessment and certification of service delivery by public sector bodies in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s revised Charter Mark scheme.

The Charter Mark is a UK Government scheme aimed at raising the standard of customer service delivery by public sector organisations.   Managed by the Cabinet Office, the scheme operated successfully for ten years as an award before making the transition to a national standard in 2003.   During this transition, the assessment and certification process was opened up to third-party assessment bodies formally selected by the Cabinet Office with the intention of introducing increased flexibility and choice.   A requirement of the selection by the Cabinet Office is that selected bodies shall achieve UKAS accreditation for this assessment activity.

The Cabinet Office selected organisations in May 2003, which then submitted applications to UKAS for accreditation.   As a new area for UKAS, the applications were dealt with as a development project, and the organisations were invited to participate in a pilot programme.   An accreditation service was developed that assessed the applicant bodies against the requirements of EN 45011 / ISO/IEC Guide 65, the generic guidance provided in EA-6/01, plus the specific Charter Mark requirements as laid down in the Scheme Documents issued by the Cabinet Office.

In the face of a tight timeframe, all parties worked extremely hard to achieve accreditation prior to the scheduled re-launch date of the revised Charter Mark scheme on 01 January 2004.   Four bodies - Centre for Assessment Ltd, Charter Mark Assessment Services (GSL UK Ltd), The East Midland Quality Centre, and SGS UK Ltd - were presented with their accreditation certificates by Lord Lindsay, chairman of UKAS, at a formal ceremony in London on 11 ^th February.

The re-launch of the Charter Mark scheme in 2004 will continue to promote best practices in customer service delivery within the public sector, and is seen as one of the important mechanisms for implementing the public sector reform agenda.   The Cabinet Office is hopeful that the increased flexibility in the assessment and certification process will encourage even greater take-up than the previous award enjoyed.

Rob Bettinson, Development Manager (rob.bettinson@ukas.com)