Sir Michael Barber has written the most interesting book so far by a Blair insider, precisely because it is so unlike all the other kiss-and-tell, or sneak-and-stab, accounts.

Its heart is a discussion of policy, and especially the work of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit, which he established and ran from 2001 to 2005 to achieve Mr Blair’s priority targets on hospital waiting times, school standards, street crime, numbers of asylum-seekers and railway punctuality. How do you translate prime ministerial aspirations into improved performance?

In part, this is a story akin to Yes, Prime Minister, as Sir Michael tells how he won over senior ministers, civil servants and particularly the Treasury. He is one of the rare figures to get on well with both Mr Blair and Gordon Brown.

The Barber approach has been seen as epitomising an excessive reliance on centrally driven targets. That is reflected in his call for a strengthening of the centre of government, through the creation of a department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, as in Australia, to push through reform.

But his argument is more complicated. He sees a stronger centre as only part of the transformation of services. Command and control can shift a service from awful to adequate. But it is only a first step. A quasi-market approach works well by putting users in the driving seat in education and health, provided that equity is protected, which requires state regulation. In other areas, such as policing and prisons, individual choice cannot apply and devolution and transparency are the key. But these approaches all require a central lead to create capacity, on performance and strategic direction.

Sir Michael’s book is much more than a look back. It also has lessons for the incoming Brown team. The latter’s advisers are wary of anything smacking of presidentialism: hence, there is unlikely to be a new department. But many of Sir Michael’s ideas could have an impact on a Brown government’s approach.

Sir Michael’s book is, above all, a reminder that there is more to the Mr Blair record than Iraq. At present, not many may share his belief that “Blair’s achievements on public services are substantial and will turn out to be long-lasting – and could result in an entirely new settlement of similar scale and long-term impact as that wrought by Attlee in the late 1940s”. But Mr Blair’s policies have changed the terms of the debate on public spending and services, for both Labour and the Tories.

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