Piloting Best Value and Better Government for Older People in Exeter

Exeter is currently the location for two major projects to improve people's involvement in the services they receive and develop civic awareness, promote liaison between the different agencies involved in public services, and carry out fundamental service reviews to produce services people want at a price they want to pay. This article reviews the Best Value Project which involves four principal public agencies in the city. The project has promoted widespread public consultation and the first six radical service reviews are under way. The Better Government for Older People Project has specifically aimed to improve older people's ability to take part in consultation, via a Visioning Day and the setting up of two focus groups to review transport for older people in the city and ways to improve communication with older people by public agencies.