19 May 2006
Tony Blair vowed this week to go 'further and faster' on public service reform as he prepares to launch another wave of change that will 'shape progressive politics' for a generation.
The prime minister called on his critics to accept new systems for delivering services and new providers, in a speech that made clear he intended to accelerate the pace of change rather than apply the brakes.
Blair, launching a major policy initiative that will determine the government's public policy reform programme, said it was important for everyone to grasp that the sector is now at the next stage of the reform process.
Under the banner 'Let's talk', the Labour Party is running a UK-wide consultation on public services that will culminate at the autumn conference, with final proposals being put to the party's national policy forum for ratification in November.
Blair tacitly admitted that the government's substantial investment in public services had not delivered the required results and said solving this conundrum was the key objective of the consultation.
'How can we match the quality and standard of service with the money that has gone in?' he said. 'How do we ensure they [the public] receive that same standard of service that they expect in any other walk of life?'
The prime minister used his speech on May 15 to deliver an uncompromising message to critics of public sector reform. The issue will come to the fore again next week when the controversial education Bill resumes its progress through Parliament.
'The patient or the parent or the pupil must come first. It's their convenience and obedience to their needs that should shape the service.' Blair said. 'No dogma or doctrine should stand in the way of the transformation necessary to achieve it.'
This was vital because, despite the government's efforts, there were still people who remained beyond the reach of the services intended to help them.
For that to be overcome, Blair said, the 'bureaucratic classifications of government' that prevented joined-up service provision needed to end. 'If we're going to change that we need a different way that government operates and we need different systems of delivery.'
Alongside his message that the reform drive had to step up a gear, the prime minister also extended an olive branch to public sector workers.
He acknowledged that since coming to power the government had forced through reforms by the wide-ranging use of targets and performance management from the centre. While refusing to apologise for that approach, insisting it had been necessary, he said it was now time to let go and give control to frontline professionals.
But he made clear that in return they would have to be prepared to embrace radical change.
'We need to [put in place] mechanisms that are self-sustaining and that empower those professionals at the front line who are prepared to be creative and innovative to make the necessary changes.'
Heather Wakefield, Unison's head of local government, told Public Finance that the prime minister's talk of reform was usually code for privatisation, which would not yield solutions to the challenges facing public services.
'The stark reality of reform has been the lack of consultation with public sector staff, who have been seen as the problem rather than part of the solution. If the prime minister is talking about having a genuine dialogue over public sector reform then our members would be really keen to engage in that,' she said.
'But I suspect what he actually means is that public sector workers need to accept the reality of privatisation. We've had years of privatisation now and it has not delivered the reforms that Blair wants.'
The public sector also came under pressure from another quarter this week. The president of the CBI business lobby, John Sunderland, used a speech to the organisation's annual dinner on May 16 to launch his own broadside at the sector.
Sunderland argued that the pursuit of profit was a legitimate enterprise that could help the public sector to provide services more efficiently, and welcomed Blair's backing for the involvement of the private sector in public services.
But he warned that the government's efforts in this area were still being hampered by claims that business could not be trusted to behave ethically, deliver value for money or safeguard the interests of the vulnerable.
These 'self-seeking myths which the public sector and their unaccountable unelected friends continue to propagate' were acting as a barrier to further private sector involvement.
Public sector unions greeted the comments by Blair and Sunderland with scepticism. A spokeswoman for the National Union of Teachers said: 'There is little point listening if you don't hear what is said. One of the problems we have come up against is that once the government has come up with a policy, everyone is stuck with it.'
PFmay2006
