The minister for public services, Dr David Clark, said the government was aiming to improve public services by setting out nine key principles of what ideal delivery should be like.

Every public service should be open and provide complete information, consult users, encourage access, treat all fairly, put things right where they go wrong, use resources effectively, innovate and improve services.

The People's Panel

As well as announcing Service First the government is putting in place new charters, including a National Health Charter and other charters covering Long Term Care, Prisons and the Immigration Services.

The government is also launching a People's Panel made up of 5,000 people randomly selected from across the UK.

Similar to a focus group it will attempt to gauge public attitudes to public services.

A new audit team will also be put in place to help create better standards by monitoring a cross-section of charters, and reviews of all the existing main charters will be carried out over the next two years.