Alan Milburn uses an interview in today's Telegraph to predict that schools and the police will follow the example of NHS foundation hospitals to gain greater freedom from Whitehall.

The health secretary says: "The model we are pioneering with NHS foundation trusts is potentially a model that could apply in other aspects of public services."

Milburn also concedes that the government has been too keen to control schools, hospitals and police officers through national targets and inspection regimes.

"We've all been through a steep learning curve... The starting point is that the public services don't belong to me - they belong to the people who use them and the people who fund them", he said.

A stern critic of Milburn's plans, the former health secretary, Frank Dobson, backs moves to extend the foundation hospital principle to primary care trusts.