Byers Calls For Labour To Debate And Decide The Role Of The Market, Choice And Diversity In Public Services
Speaking at the annual dinner of the Castle Point Constituency Labour Party in Essex on the evening of Wednesday 3rd November former Cabinet Minister Stephen Byers will call for Labour to debate and decide the role of the market and in particular choice and diversity in public services.
He will say:
“As Alan Milburn begins the process of bringing together the ideas that will form the basis of Labour’s manifesto for the next election the time is right to debate and then decide on the role and limits of the state and the market in securing and providing high quality public services.
“The objective should be to achieve a progressive consensus in favour of modern public services which reflect our position as citizens while meeting our expectations as consumers paying for the service.
“In the past those of us who believe in modernisation and reform have made the mistake of allowing the necessary changes to our public services to be portrayed as contrary to Labour’s values. In the future we need to be stronger in asserting that Labour’s historic goals of social justice and opportunity for all can only be met through public services which are reformed, personalised and made universal – no longer the preserve of a few but available to all.
“In order to achieve a progressive concensus we need to be clear about our overall philosophy and the limits that need to be applied to the role to be played by the private sector and the operation of market mechanisms:
- First we need to acknowledge that the provision of a public service like a school or hospital is not the same as shopping in the supermarket or booking a foreign holiday. Only when we do this can we then move on and make the case for choice and personalisation operating within collective provision.
- Second it is vital to avoid a dogmatic approach. For example by insisting that choice has to be available in all public services when it is clear that in a number of areas like defence, policing, accident and emergency provision it is simply inappropriate.
- Third we must reject the contracting out culture. It is an approach to public services which has failed because it was about government washing its hands of responsibility and handing it over to the private sector who operated in the interests of their shareholders and not the public interest. This does not deny a significant role for the private sector but puts it on a totally different basis. So in health the private sector operates under the N.H.S. umbrella and due to initiatives like the new diagnostic and treatment centres are now making a significant difference. Not privatisation but the private sector working for the public good.
- Finally we must nail the myth that charges will be introduced. To guarantee to people that there is no secret plan to abandon the principle of free universal public services. There does need to be a debate about the role of co-payments based on ability to pay in respect of new services that might be provided in the future – for example if we move from the present highly targeted approach to childcare and early years provision to one which is universal.
“Once we have established these parameters we can then debate the substance. To make the case that choice, diversity and contestability must be at the heart of any programme which is serious about the reform of public services.
“Choice is crucial because it hands control to the individual user. But it is not an end in itself because when coupled with diversity and contestability it becomes the means by which quality of provision can be improved. Tackling the inequalities which presently exist in public service provision for the poor while at the same time strengthening the middle class commitment to collective provision.
“Labour must not shy away from radical reform. For many the issues will be difficult. But with reassurances about the limits to the market and the role of the private sector I believe we can achieve a progressive concensus about the way forward.”
