This autumn the real debate in British politics will be about who is best placed to make Britain a fairer society. We all recognise that inequality is rising, social mobility is falling and public services are still failing too many people. To take just three appalling statistics among many: the gap in life expectancy in Britain between rich and poor is at its widest since the Victorian era. This year just 176 pupils on free school meals got three As at A-level. There are 900,000 more people living in severe poverty than there were in 1997.

Labour has failed on fairness because of Gordon Brown’s dogmatic insistence that “only the state can guarantee fairness”. Of course, David Cameron and the Conservative party recognise that the state has a crucial role to play in improving public services, tackling inequality and other key goals. But we understand that it is only when the state works with other groups that we can really make a difference.

In a series of green papers, we have set out a range of commitments to deliver fairness. First, education reform. We believe it is deeply unfair that too many people in Britain today are still held back by their background. That is why we will make it possible for charities and businesses to set up schools in the most disadvantaged communities and give parents the power to choose where they want to send their children. This approach, based on the highly successful Swedish schools model, represents the most radical supply-side reform of the education system ever seen in Britain. With money following the pupil, and children from disadvantaged backgrounds receiving extra funding thanks to our “pupil premium”, this will address the inequalities of choice and standards that are holding back too many children.

Second, welfare reform. The green paper we published earlier this year sets out a bold agenda for breaking up the monolithic provision of welfare services and bringing in independent contractors to deliver tailored support and training to jobseekers. Alongside these reforms we will introduce tough new sanctions against those who do not take up a fair offer of work or training. After all, it is not fair that many people who can work choose to depend on state benefits instead. We will use the money we save to abolish the unfair couple penalty in the tax credit system which means that millions of couples are actually better off if they split up.

Third, reform of the failing system of rehabilitation in British prisons: public sector prisons will be decentralised to become independent fee-earning “prison and rehabilitation trusts” responsible for the first time for offenders after they are released, as well as in prison.

Fourth, strengthening Britain’s charities and voluntary groups. We will overhaul the Big Lottery Fund so that it returns to its roots as a backer of good ideas from the charity, sport and voluntary sectors and we will set Britain’s charities free by making longer-term grants the norm and tackling the red tape that deters people from volunteering.

Fifth, we will tackle problem debt and ensure a fairer deal for consumers. At the moment, millions of people without bank accounts typically end up paying higher rates for their energy and water because they cannot set up direct debit payments. We will change that by reforming the post office card account so it can be used to pay utility bills. Because they will be able to access lower tariffs for the first time, this sensible and fair policy will save up to 4m low-income families an average of £100 per year.

We will also clamp down on unethical store cards which can trap people in cycles of problem debt. We will impose a cap on extortionate store card interest rates and introduce a cooling-off period, meaning store cards cannot be used until seven days after they have been signed up for. This will stop consumers being unfairly enticed to take up store cards at the shop counter and immediately racking up debts on them without having a chance to stop and think about the consequences.

In addition, we will tackle the worrying marketing of individual voluntary arrangements, a form of insolvency, which has often led to vulnerable consumers signing up for inappropriate financial arrangements without properly understanding the implications, including the fees involved and the risk of losing their home.

We also recognise that tackling problem debt requires us to enable greater personal responsibility. That’s why we will bring in tough regulations that force credit card companies to provide clear and accessible information about the true cost of borrowing - for example, exactly how long it will take to repay debt if only minimum monthly repayments are made.

The Conservative party understands that markets can deliver fairness and opportunities, but we also recognise that, to be fair, markets need to operate within a framework of rules and responsibilities.

George Osborne is the shadow chancellor