Action on housing tops Brown's new priorities

May 15 2008 The Journal

PRIME Minister Gordon Brown yesterday put reform of public services and welfare at the heart of his legislative programme for the year, promising to give people more control over healthcare, schools and policing.

Mr Brown said his immediate priority was to help families deal with the current economic turbulence and his “passion” was to give every Briton the opportunity to fulfil their potential – and he urged voters to judge him on those tests.

He set out his plans for the next session of Parliament in a draft Queen’s Speech containing 18 Bills he said would create a “fairer, more prosperous” Britain.

The wide-ranging programme included measures to help first-time buyers on to the property ladder through shared ownership; protect depositors when banks fail; extend access to apprenticeships, training and flexible working; and encourage poorer people to save.

But he was accused of stealing Conservative policies by David Cameron, who said the relaunch proved only that the Government had “run out of road, run out of money, run out of ideas”.

The Tory leader dismissed the draft legislative programme for 2008/09 as “yet another attempt to save the Prime Minister’s skin” before next week’s Crewe and Nantwich by-election, where Tories are pressing to overturn a Labour majority of more than 7,000.

Speaking after unveiling his programme to the House of Commons, Mr Brown acknowledged that voters were anxious about their economic prospects and said the current uncertainties required a clear and decisive direction from the Government.

“I ask, and indeed expect, to be judged by this test: our stewardship of the British economy and building a lasting prosperity,” said Mr Brown.

The Prime Minister won cheers from Labour MPs and support from unions as he announced plans to extend employment protection to agency workers, grant all employees the right to request time off for training and extend flexible working to parents of older children.

But he set the scene for a possible future clash with backbenchers as he confirmed plans to require all new and current incapacity benefit claimants to undergo medical checks to see if they are fit to return to work.

At the heart of Mr Brown’s programme are Bills to “personalise” public services.

A new NHS Constitution will set out what patients can expect from the health service, and an NHS Reform Bill will introduce a system where hospitals could lose cash if they miss targets for patient satisfaction.

An Education Bill will give parents a bigger say on how to raise standards and whether new schools are needed in their area. New powers will allow the closure or takeover of failing schools.

And communities will for the first time directly elect representatives to hold their local police force to account.

A Policing and Crime Reduction Bill will also speed the seizure of criminals’ assets.

Housing minister Caroline Flint set out plans to make it easier for first-time buyers and social tenants to find homes.

A £200m fund will be set up to buy unsold new homes and rent them to social tenants, while £100m will be put into shared ownership schemes, which will be available for the first time to all first-time buyers with household incomes below £60,000.

Some eight million people on low incomes will be encouraged to save with a National Savings Scheme, with every pound they deposit matched by a contribution from the Government.

And in the wake of the Northern Rock crisis, protection for depositors’ savings will be extended, probably to £100,000.

Mr Brown told the Commons: “Building a more prosperous Britain and a fairer Britain is the purpose of the draft legislative programme published today for debate in this House and the country.”

But Mr Cameron said proposals ranging from an NHS constitution to flexible working for parents and directly-elected police commissioners had all been borrowed from the Tories.

He taunted the PM: “I hope when you get up we will get a bit of gratitude from you for all this ... You can’t really say we haven’t got any substance when you have taken it all and put it in your Queen’s Speech.”

I ask, and indeed expect, to be judged by this test: our stewardship of the British economy and building a lasting prosperity