XN000022-1995-04-27 — Page 22

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The consultancy on customer service is part of the Government's commitment to improve the quality of public services under the Serving the Community Programme announced by the Governor in his Policy Address in October 1992.

Mr Footman said: "Every Government department which serves the public directly has now made a performance pledge on the standard of service it offers. Our next step is to focus more on how we serve members of the public in our individual transactions with them.

"Using customer feedback to improve services is very important. The people we serve have a clear understanding of the kind of service they want, the performance measures that matter to them, and how the service we provide compares with their expectations.

"By drawing on this knowledge, we can begin to bridge the gap between what we actually do and these expectations, in order to provide the best service we can within available resources."

Mr Footman said one way to do this was through Customer Liaison Groups. Since the idea was developed in late 1993, 26 departments have set up 39 Groups.

These have proved fertile ground for suggestions: changes introduced as a result include one-stop shopping for learner driving licences and test application forms in the Transport Department; extension of single queuing arrangements to more post offices and the sale of stamp booklets through 7-Eleven stores etc.

"Training of front-line staff is important in locking-in a new culture of service. Some 33,000 front-line staff have received customer service related training over the past couple of years," he added.

End/Thursday, April 27, 1995

Ways to curb misleading sales descriptions of flats

The Law Reform Commission today (Thursday) issued a report on the ways to curb misleading sales descriptions of uncompleted flats in Hong Kong.

In November 1992, the Commission appointed a sub-committee, chaired by Professor Derek Roebuck of the Department of Law of the City University, to consider the sales descriptions of uncompleted residential property.