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Local government in the UK is not immune from the pressures driving successful organizations towards top quality services that delight their customers. Outlines some of the special features of local government service provision and the way in which these might affect the assessment of service quality. Highlights some of the limitations of conventional customer satisfaction surveys which lead the authors to consider the SERVQUAL approach. This method, which has been the subject of considerable academic scrutiny and extensive private sector service application, merits serious consideration by local government managers as a robust, adaptable, diagnostic instrument to measure service quality.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the application of the SERVQUAL approach to assess the quality of service of Strathclyde Police in Scotland. Measuring service quality in public services is fraught with difficulty especially in public services where customers are vulnerable citizens whose contact with the service may be limited. The paper reports on a SERVQUAL survey of elected representatives serving the area covered by Strathclyde Police Force. The survey captures respondents' expectations of an excellent police service and compares these with their perceptions of the service delivered by Strathclyde Police. The paper also reports on a parallel SERVQUAL survey of police officers in Strathclyde to examine how well the force understands its customers' expectations and how well its internal processes support the delivery of top quality policing services. While there is a significant shortfall in meeting customer expectations, the police force appears to have a good understanding of what these expectations actually are. There also appear to be gaps in the formalisation of service quality standards, in the force's ability to meet established standards, and in its ability to deliver the level of service it promises to customers. A key technical result is that the primary SERVQUAL instrument appears to be internally consistent but lacks discriminatory validity between the five SERVQUAL dimensions in this service arena. The paper will be of interest to strategic and operational police service managers and to academics investigating the reliability and value of service quality assessment tools

This paper explores some of the complexities of the public sector as they relate to the formation of strategy for the management of quality. Key issues analysed include the importance of the particular mission and responsibilities of the public sector; the range and influence of different stakeholders; the strategic portfolio choices open to decision-makers; the perverse logic of quality in this sector; and the peculiar nature of its customers and decision-makers. In highlighting crucial differences with the commercial sector, the paper raises some challenges for the quality movement as to how best it might support continuous improvement in this important sector in the future.

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