He said there would be more one-to-one relationships between people and those who can help them such as teachers, nurses and advisors on welfare. He said there would be a growing role for the voluntary sector.
He said there would be more one-to-one relationships between people and those who can help them such as teachers, nurses and advisors on welfare. He said there would be a growing role for the voluntary sector.
He said the role of the private sector was expanding, and would continue to expand, in areas such as health. Independent treatment centres will have diagnosed a million people by April of next year, Mr Brown added.
He said the role of the private sector was expanding, and would continue to expand, in areas such as health. Independent treatment centres will have diagnosed a million people by April of next year, Mr Brown added.
A forum had been set up to encourage more private operators to come into the health sector, he said, while a review had begun of the overall role of the private sector in the National Health Service, which was valued at £22bn.
A forum had been set up to encourage more private operators to come into the health sector, he said, while a review had begun of the overall role of the private sector in the National Health Service, which was valued at £22bn.
Value-for-money would be the main test for independent healthcare providers at a local level as the capacity in the NHS was built up, he said.
Value-for-money would be the main test for independent healthcare providers at a local level as the capacity in the NHS was built up, he said.
Most
Whitehall departments were being asked to make efficiency savings of 3%, a "big target" for them, the prime minister added. But he said there was never any complacency about the need to cut budgets while ensuring that services were improved.
Asked
about efficiency targets, he said most Whitehall departments were being asked to make efficiency savings of 3%, a "big target" for them. But he said there was never any complacency about the need to cut budgets while ensuring that services were improved.
Asked about changing technology, Mr Brown said Britain, along with other countries, was realising that "so much more" had yet to be done to improve the use of information technology in public services.
Asked about changing technology, Mr Brown said Britain, along with other countries, was realising that "so much more" had yet to be done to improve the use of information technology in public services.
Conservative MP Edward Leigh asked Mr Brown about "systemic failures" in the HM Revenue and Customs and whether the inquiry into the loss of CDs holding child-benefit data would be a good opportunity to review the workings of the department.
Conservative MP Edward Leigh asked Mr Brown about "systemic failures" in the HM Revenue and Customs and whether the inquiry into the loss of CDs holding child-benefit data would be a good opportunity to review the workings of the department.
The prime minister said it was important to recognise the difference between a single case of "rules not being followed" and whether the department was running more or less effectively since being created in place of the former Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise offices.
The prime minister said it was important to recognise the difference between a single case of "rules not being followed" and whether the department was running more or less effectively since being created in place of the former Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise offices.
"Nobody has lost any money" as yet following the loss of those discs, containing personal details - including bank account information - on some 25 million people, Mr Brown added.
"Nobody has lost any money" as yet following the loss of those discs, containing personal details - including bank account information - on some 25 million people, Mr Brown added.
More
children have been receiving an education in poorer areas under the government-backed academies and trusts, Mr Brown said.
On
schools, he said the state-assisted scheme for school places had not worked in the past and there should be no return to it as the current system was working far better at turning around "failing" schools, he said.
He said the government was moving "further and faster" in areas such as social care, health and education. "The culture of the second-best is not acceptable to me. It is a culture of excellence that we must achieve," Mr Brown said, emphasising that failure would be "rooted out".
On the global economy, he said "a better early-warning system" was needed to recognise "financial turbulence" in light of the uncertainty currently being felt.
He said he was proposing changes on a European level, saying an enormous amount of time had been spent looking at the institutional framework of a 27-member European Union, the prime minister said, and perhaps there had been an "over-emphasis" on areas such as constitutional affairs.
Asked about constitutional changes proposed by Mr Brown, he said it was "essential" for citizens to be involved in discussions with the government about the major issues of the day.
"You cannot make decisions and assume that people will simply follow them. Most decisions can only be successful if people are part of the process."
Asked about the value of local government, Mr Brown said that people wanted more control over their affairs at a local level but not necessarily by having their own regional assemblies.
Although they wanted the police and public services to be answerable to them, communities were organised in different ways and so it was not easy to have a blanket rule on how to hold such bodies to account.
Asked to define the main characteristics of "Britishness", Mr Brown said fairness, the sense of liberty and the recognition of appropriate behaviour were among the common values which held UK society together.
