To improve the quality of services provided to the public, it is necessary to know how they are provided, what the best practices are and which aspects need to be changed to improve the performance of those units which manage and provide services The quality assessment of public services offered by the Administration has therefore become a key requisite to achieve an Administration that can rise to the challenges of changes in society and in citizens' expectations, placing citizens at the heart of decision-making.

There are several different kinds of feedback mechanism, depending on the size of an organisation or the point of view of assessment, including financial control, management supervision and quality/excellence assessment. Quality/excellence assessment is based on a comprehensive diagnosis of the organisation’s processes and results across all stakeholder groups.

Central Government Administration bodies will submit their activities and results to assessment in accordance with the quality management models set forth in the decision of 6 February 2006 of the Secretariat General for Public Administration, introducing guidelines for the implementation of the programmes under the General framework for quality improvement laid down in Royal Decree 951/2005 of 29 July 2005, so as to obtain information on the quality level offered to the public. Assessment takes place on two levels: self-assessment and external assessment.

For its performance, there are several recognised management models:

* The EFQM Excellence Model
* The Common Assessment Framework, CAF
* The EVAM assessment, learning and improvement model designed by MAP, the Spanish Ministry for Public Administration, and developed by the Evaluation and Quality Agency.

Central Government Administration bodies and their attached autonomous bodies and social security management entities and common services can assess their quality on the basis of whichever of the above three models they think best fits their situation and needs