[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 84 (Monday, May 2, 2011)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 24339-24341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10732]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 84 / Monday, May 2, 2011 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 24339]]

                Executive Order 13571 of April 27, 2011

                
Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving 
                Customer Service

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, and in order to improve the quality of service 
                to the public by the Federal Government, it is hereby 
                ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Policy. The public deserves competent, 
                efficient, and responsive service from the Federal 
                Government. Executive departments and agencies 
                (agencies) must continuously evaluate their performance 
                in meeting this standard and work to improve it. To 
                this end, Executive Order 12862 (Setting Customer 
                Service Standards), issued on September 11, 1993, 
                requires agencies that provide significant services 
                directly to the public to identify and survey their 
                customers, establish service standards and track 
                performance against those standards, and benchmark 
                customer service performance against the best in 
                business. This effort to ``put people first'' was an 
                important step. It was reinforced by a Presidential 
                Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and 
                Agencies issued on March 22, 1995 (Improving Customer 
                Service), and a further Presidential Memorandum issued 
                on March 3, 1998 (Conducting ``Conversations with 
                America'' to Further Improve Customer Service).

                However, with advances in technology and service 
                delivery systems in other sectors, the public's 
                expectations of the Government have continued to rise. 
                The Government must keep pace with and even exceed 
                those expectations. Government must also address the 
                need to improve its services, not only to individuals, 
                but also to private and Governmental entities to which 
                the agency directly provides significant services. 
                Government managers must learn from what is working in 
                the private sector and apply these best practices to 
                deliver services better, faster, and at lower cost. 
                Such best practices include increasingly popular lower-
                cost, self-service options accessed by the Internet or 
                mobile phone and improved processes that deliver 
                services faster and more responsively, reducing the 
                overall need for customer inquiries and complaints. The 
                Federal Government has a responsibility to streamline 
                and make more efficient its service delivery to better 
                serve the public.

                Sec. 2. Agency Customer Service Plans and Activities. 
                Within 180 days of the date of this order, each agency 
                shall develop, in consultation with the Office of 
                Management and Budget (OMB), a Customer Service Plan 
                (plan) to address how the agency will provide services 
                in a manner that seeks to streamline service delivery 
                and improve the experience of its customers. As used in 
                this order, the term ``customer'' refers to any 
                individual or to any entity, including a business, 
                tribal, State or local government, or other agency, to 
                which the agency directly provides significant 
                services. The plan shall set forth the agency's 
                approach, intended benefits, and an implementation 
                timeline for the following actions:

                    (a) establishing one major initiative (signature 
                initiative) that will use technology to improve the 
                customer experience;
                    (b) establishing mechanisms to solicit customer 
                feedback on Government services and using such feedback 
                regularly to make service improvements;
                    (c) setting clear customer service standards and 
                expectations, including, where appropriate, performance 
                goals for customer service required by the

[[Page 24340]]

                GPRA (Government Performance and Results) Modernization 
                Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-352);
                    (d) improving the customer experience by adopting 
                proven customer service best practices and coordinating 
                across service channels (such as online, phone, in-
                person, and mail services);
                    (e) streamlining agency processes to reduce costs 
                and accelerate delivery, while reducing the need for 
                customer calls and inquiries; and
                    (f) identifying ways to use innovative technologies 
                to accomplish the customer service activities above, 
                thereby lowering costs, decreasing service delivery 
                times, and improving the customer experience.

                Sec. 3. Publication of Agency Customer Service Plans. 
                Each agency shall publish its plan on its Open 
                Government web page.

                Sec. 4. Assistance in Implementation. In consultation 
                with the heads of executive departments and agencies, 
                the Chief Performance Officer, who also serves as the 
                Deputy Director for Management of the OMB, shall 
                develop guidance for implementing the activities 
                outlined in this order. Such guidance shall include, 
                among other things, the nature and scope of services to 
                which the order's requirements will apply. The Office 
                of Management and Budget, the General Services 
                Administration, and the Office of Science and 
                Technology Policy shall assist and support agencies in 
                developing customer service standards and plans, online 
                posting of customer service metrics and best practices, 
                expediting review for customer feedback mechanisms 
                under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et 
                seq.), improving the design and management of agency 
                websites providing services or information to the 
                public in compliance with section 508 of the 
                Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d), and using 
                innovative technologies to improve customer service at 
                lower costs.

                Sec. 5. Independent Agencies. Independent agencies are 
                requested to adhere to this order.

                Sec. 6. Privileged Information. Nothing in this order 
                shall compel or authorize the disclosure of privileged 
                information, law enforcement information, information 
                affecting national security, or information the 
                disclosure of which is prohibited by law.

                Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
                shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the 
head thereof; or

(ii) functions of the Director of the OMB relating to budgetary, 
administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
                applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.

[[Page 24341]]

                    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    April 27, 2011.

[FR Doc. 2011-10732
Filed 4-29-11; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-W1-P