Labour to fail on public service targets

Tony Blair's plans to launch a fightback over public services could be undermined by the Government's failure to meet several of its key performance targets.

Some of Labour's most important goals, set in 1998, are due to be achieved by this year but alarm bells are ringing in Whitehall that some will be missed. They include a pledge to improve the literacy and numeracy standards of 11-year-olds. One government source said yesterday: "That will be a very close run thing."

Yesterday, the Prime Minister used a television interview to answer criticism that he had neglected the crisis in the railways by spending his time on foreign trips. He promised that, after tackling education and health, the Government would now turn to transport.

But an opinion poll by YouGov found that 64 per cent of respondents believed Mr Blair should spend more time tackling domestic issues and less time abroad. Six out of 10 people described Mr Blair as "arrogant" and only three in 10 "modest".

The number of government performance targets, running to hundreds, looks certain to be reduced during a Treasury-led review that will produce a new three-year programme of public spending this summer.

Mr Blair believes the targets have a useful role to play in driving through his "modernisation and reform" agenda and giving Whitehall departments an incentive to improve public services.

But some ministers argue that the targets are too ambitious and fear that the Government has made a rod for its own back. They want to scrap some pledges not under the Government's direct control, such as those requiring a change in the behaviour of the public.

Some cabinet ministers have told Downing Street it would be unfair to judge them against targets they inherited when they took over new briefs after last June's general election and which they played no part in setting.

They include Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, who has not repeated the promise by her predecessor, David Blunkett, to resign if the literacy and numeracy goals were not achieved.

Mr Blunkett, now Home Secretary, believes he was right to set the English and maths targets to symbolise the "sea change" needed in education. But he is among the ministers calling for the number of targets to be reduced so that they focus on key issues directly under the Government's control. For example, Mr Blunkett believes, the success of the pledge to cut the number of under-25s misusing drugs will depend on actions by police and other independent agencies as well as people's behaviour.

Other ministers are worried that setting ambitious goals only encourages the public to expect big improvements in services. One said: "We cannot give the impression that things will just happen if ministers shout loudly enough about it. We are just deluding ourselves and the public, and that only creates more cynicism about politics."

Some ministers claim the system is flawed because it distorts priorities. Last month, the National Audit Office criticised hospital trusts for massaging waiting list figures because of pressure to meet Department of Health targets.

One Whitehall source said: "The system has been called into question. It encourages cheating, inflexibility and criticism when targets are not met and it does not help joined-up government across departments."

A Blair aide admitted the targets might be streamlined but defended the system. He said: "We need clear benchmarks and milestones for the Government to provide a clear focus and pressure on ministers and civil servants to deliver."

Yesterday Mr Blair suggested that his Government had tackled the problems in education and health and was now moving on to transport. Defending the decision not to address the rail crisis when Labour came to power in 1997, Mr Blair said the party had to get the economy right first. "Secondly, education was the number one priority and after education came health. Now we have set aside the money ... for railways."

Interviewed on the BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme, Mr Blair made clear he would like to see the Government's five economic tests for joining the euro passed. He denied that British membership was inevitable but said he was ready to make the case for entry. He added: "The idea you can close yourself off from the rest of Europe is pie in the sky, 60 per cent of our trade is with Europe, millions of British jobs depend on it and, if the economic case is a good one, then I believe we should be prepared to make the political case."

The Prime Minister defended his trips abroad, saying they took only "a very small proportion" of his time. He said that, since the 11 September terrorist attacks, domestic and foreign policy were more closely interlinked than ever.