Team work: Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang addresses the Serving the Community Conference.

Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang says the Government will respond to rising expectations, despite all that has been done to improve service delivery recently.

Launching the Serving the Community Conference today, Mr Tsang said officers should put themselves in the position of the service recipients in redesigning service delivery to meet the demand for higher standards.

Mr Tsang said the public often views the Government as a single entity, and their level of satisfaction improves when they see the administration work across boundaries, as it did in Team Clean.

"We need to work across Government in a joined-up way. We need to determine if our efforts are helping people in the most effective manner, whether individuals and businesses are being allowed to grow and prosper, and whether our actions foster a positive relationship between the Government and the community," he said.

Over 270 department heads and senior professionals attended the one-day conference, organised by the Efficiency Unit under the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office, to give participants a deeper understanding of the potential benefit of one-stop integrated services.

Efficiency Unit head Duncan Pescod said over 72% of survey respondents rated Government services to be 'good' or 'outstanding', while 28% were unsatisfied.

The survey also showed most people think Government services play a key role in shaping its image. Many suggested the Government improve services cutting across multiple departments as a priority.

Keynote speaker John McKean, Executive Director of the US' Centre for Information Based Competition, said 70% of people remember how a government provides the services rather than what it provides.

He said all departments must deliver services consistently with the human touch that matters most.