Cameron publishes open public services white paper

The Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that public services are to be opened up so people will be given more choice to shape the public services they use.

Control will be put into the hands of individuals and neighbourhoods so everyone can benefit from the best public services available.

The Open Public Services White Paper recognises that Whitehall does not know best, it begins a programme of consultation and engagement over the summer with individuals, communities, public sector staff and providers to ensure that the improvements are both ambitious and practical.

 The five core principles for modernising public services include that wherever possible Government will increase choice, which means giving people more direct control over the services they use. People will be given the power to choose, such as where they send their children to school.

 Also, public services should be de-centralised to the lowest appropriate level which means giving communities more control over public services, for example by giving neighbourhood councils the chance to run the community library. Neighbourhood councils will be made easier to set up where they don’t already exist.

Public services should be open to a range of providers, and these providers could be in the public, private or voluntary sectors.

Another core principle is fair access, as t he Government recognises that not all people start from the same point and believe the state needs to provide extra help to those individuals who have been previously left behind.

 The last core principle is that public services should be accountable to users and to taxpayers, that all public services need to be accountable to the people who use them and the taxpayers who pay for them.

Cameron said: "I know what our public services can do and how they are the backbone of this country."

"But I know too that the way they have been run for decades - old-fashioned, top-down, take-what-you’re-given - is just not working for a lot of people."

Further information:
Cabinet Office