 Public Services Debate
Autumn Conference, 2002The Government likes to talk a lot about 'change.' But how much have things really changed? That sunny day back in May 1997, we were told, "things can only get better." But the Government seems to have thought simply replacing lame duck Conservative ministers with New Labour Ministers was change enough. They didn't understand that the same old budgets and the same old red tape would buy the same old result: failure.
Now, at last, Labour has relented. After four wasted years of Labour delay, public services will no longer be as starved of resources as they were under the Conservatives. Gordon Brown claims credit for the change of heart, as if the four years of dereliction by this Labour Government were nothing to do with him.
Let's put the record straight. We led the debate on funding for public services. Liberal Democrats all over the country led calls for extra money for schools, hospitals and pensions. Consistently, over three general elections. It wasn't Labour who took the risks, made the running, and led the campaign for decent investment in public services. It was you. You won.
Labour said our policies were irresponsible - right up to the moment they adopted them.
But be in no doubt, the next challenge is bigger. The challenge of preventing Labour Ministers
and Whitehall bureaucrats from wasting the extra billions they're taking from taxpayers to fund public services. It must not be a case of big bucks - small change.
Today, we set out how we will lead the new debate. Reform. Decentralisation. Local Democracy. This is our territory, not Labour's. It's about accountability, so that people know how their money is being spent. Local people shaping that spending, not just funding it. That's why we propose today to free the National Health Service - a quarter of government spending from the departmental dogfight for the Chancellor's largesse.
Instead we propose for the first time, a dedicated NHS Contribution: simple to operate and understand, based on the current national insurance system. People will then be guaranteed that the money they pay for the NHS, goes to the NHS. Long term certainty at last for the Doctors and Nurses who work so hard in our hospitals - and for all those patients and relatives who depend on them, who depend on our National Health Service.
Accountability is also about making sure that decisions are taken as close as possible to the people affected. Booker T. Washington, in Up from Slavery, said this
"Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him."
That's our approach, to free the people who use public services, who are enslaved by the control culture, by Whitehall's web of bogus targets and rigid controls. Lack of choice. Lack of quality. Lack of accountability. But an excess of excuses.
Those who work in public services, are equally enslaved. Overmanaged. Overburdened. Overcriticised. But undervalued. Our approach is different, and it's firmly rooted in our principles. The doctor or nurse in the hospital, the police officer on the beat, the teacher in the classroom all know more about local needs and local solutions than Westminster ever will.
Near the turn of the last century, the New Liberals proposed radical, creative measures to further the cause of personal freedom through social justice. They laid the foundation of modern health, pensions, and other public services.
Our proposals at the turn of this century are no less important. We propose today nothing less than a reinvention of the role of government, and a reinvention of public services, fit for the 21st century. Our proposals will transform the role of the state, so that government is enabling, not controlling as it is today.
We will set this transformation in motion by using the funding we've won to promote local innovation and to promote individual choice. This is our case to take to the country. An earmarked, guaranteed NHS Contribution, so that healthcare has long-term, guaranteed, transparent funding. And to transfer power from the hidden corridors of Whitehall to the individual and the neighbourhood.
Fellow delegates. I'm proud of this radical, reforming, and above all Liberal agenda. We can all be proud of what Liberals have achieved, and what we today set course to achieve. This is our challenge. These are the changes that our country needs.
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Published by Matthew Taylor MP, 10 South Street, St Austell, Cornwall PL25 5BH
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