Service Policy

The City of Reykjavík is a service provider since most of the City's activities consist of providing one or more services to residents, businesses, and visitors.

It is important for the services to be readily available, diverse, and excellent. The Service Policy outlines the City's uniform vision of what service is all about. The Policy sets out the guiding principles and objectives of services that are used by staff in their daily duties and sets standards and metrics for services. 

Objective

The Reykjavík City Service Policy is divided into three main objectives, each of which is to ensure sound and efficient services for its users.

  • Professionalism:
    Service is a specialized professional proficiency that needs to be interwoven into all City activities with active quality management.
  • User-oriented services:
    Services should be and organized from the perspective of its users.
  • Efficiency:
    The service should function effectively and be readily available to users.

 

About the Service Policy

The advent of the Reykjavík City Service Policy in 2016 marked a turning point in the City's services. Its implementation is a long-term project that is largely about a change in mentality and requires consensus and commitment on the part of all Reykjavík staff.

 

As of 2021, the Policy had been in force for five years. We therefore decided to review it, make it even more targeted, and to update it in line with the current era. 

Review Procedure

The policy review included, among other things, preparing a status assessment of the City's services from the approval of the 2016 Service Policy to 2021, as well as the preparation of a new action plan. This was followed by an open dialogue on the draft of the revised Policy and Action Plan with residents using the website for a Better Reykjavík and within the City administration. The consultation process lasted from February to March 2022.

The revised and updated Policy and the new Action Plan were adopted by the City Executive Council April 28, 2022. The Policy is valid for a period of five years and the Action Plan for a period of two years.

Action Plan

The new and more ambitious action plan sets out measures that further support the implementation of the Policy. The tasks ahead are therefore numerous and exciting, addressing, among other things, the increased emphasis on education, the promotion of services, and user-centered design, the development and implementation of service standards, the creation of a tool kit for user-centered services, the measurement of service quality, and the mapping of service processes.