Blair seeks "personalised" future
Tony Blair was joined by senior Cabinet ministers as he unveiled the review today
Also In The News
|
Police are urgently trying to contact two youths in connection with the murder of a teenage boy in east London last night. |  |
Monday, 19, Mar 2007 11:37
Tony Blair has today called for Britain's public services to be made more "personalised".
The prime minister was joined by health secretary Patricia Hewitt, education secretary Alan Johnson and chancellor Gordon Brown as he unveiled the government's policy review of public services in Hackney, east London.
And the key theme put forward was that the public would be given increased choice over reforms in health and education services through league tables and user feedback.
"The old ways of working are being broken down," Mr Blair said.
On healthcare, Mr Blair called for more diversity of supply so that patients had more choice of where they went to receive treatment.
As part of reforms in education, more lessons for gifted and talented pupils are to be pushed, while more schools are to be open longer and an increased level of specialised support for children with special needs is to be provided.
"What we want is to keep these basic public service values, which are about access to quality public services irrespective of your wealth," Mr Blair said.
"But make sure those are truly personalised services where the people using the services have greater power, where there's a much greater diversity of provider and where the old ways of working are broken down and people are empowered on the front line to work in a different and more constructive way."
The review of public services represents the first results from six working groups which were set up to look at economic dynamism; environment and energy; public services; security, crime and justice; the role of the state; and Britain and the world.
Writing in the introduction to the review, Mr Blair called it a "serious, thorough and strategic review of priorities and policies".
"It will recognise as well that it won't just be the challenges that change but also the correct solutions," he said.
Speaking today, Mr Brown said it was crucial that public services meet people's needs in order to continue to improve and said he would be making a "major announcement" on city academies in his Budget announcement on Wednesday.
Ms Hewitt added that the review would "put the public service at the service of the patient" and also unveiled plans to open extra GP practices, walk-in centres and minor injuries units in four areas as part of a Department of Health trial.