Choice of public services is not enough, Blair admits

Tony Blair came under fire from Labour MPs yesterday over the Government's flagship plans to introduce more "choice" in public services.

Tony Blair came under fire from Labour MPs yesterday over the Government's flagship plans to introduce more "choice" in public services.

During two and a half hours of questioning by MPs on the Commons Liaison Committee ­ comprising chairmen of all the select committees ­ the Prime Minister admitted that "choice", the new buzzword for both Labour and the Tories,was not "a be all and end all" and was "meaningless" unless it was combined with extra capacity and better services. But he insisted Labour's plans would not result in "two-tier" public services.

Tony Wright, Labour chairman of the Public Administration Select Committee, suggested that the "choice" being offered by the Government was really "people's second choice" because what they wanted was "decent public services down the road". He questioned the need for a further round of reforms.

Alan Williams, chairman of the Liaison Committee, said Mr Blair's "choice" plan was unattainable, saying it was "fine in theory but it won't work in practice". He cited the example of two schools in the same town ­ one good and one bad ­ and warned of a "two-tier system" like the divide between secondary modern and grammar schools.

Barry Sheerman, Labour chairman of the Education Select Committee, asked Mr Blair whether after seven years in power, his Government had simply "run out of steam."

The Prime Minister said choice could be "an important lever" to drive up standards. He made clear the five-year plan for education to be published tomorrow would lift the ceiling on good schools expanding when there are surplus places in poorly performing schools in the same area. That was "an acceptable restriction", he said. "I think you need freedom for schools but not a free-for-all."

The Prime Minister argued that there were already "different tiers" in the quality of public services. "Of course, what everyone wants is the good school and the good hospital on their doorstep. The question is that given that we live in an imperfect world, are they then just stuck with a failing or poor service on their doorstep or can they exercise the choice to go elsewhere?"

Mr Blair received a boost when a MORI survey for BBC Radio 4 found people backed the idea of choice and wanted to be treated as "consumers" of public services. But they were worried about the role of private companies in public services and overwhelmingly rejected Tory plans for "vouchers" which could be spent at private schools and hospitals.

On other issues, Mr Blair said climate change was "the single biggest long-term problem facing the world". He said he had not ruled out a new generation of nuclear power stations. "I certainly do not favour closing the door on that debate," he said. "You cannot remove it from the agenda if you are serious about climate change."

After criticism that Labour was creating a "nanny state" over issues such as obesity and smoking, Mr Blair said he could not dictate how people live their lives. "What we can do is to educate people, to say the lifestyle changes they can make to give them better and more effective lives," he said.

The Prime Minister said that more houses needed to built in the South-east but insisted there was "no question of concreting over the green belt".