Gordon Brown joined Tony Blair yesterday in embracing the need for “truly personalised” public services that give people the information and power they need to choose a school or hospital.

The Chancellor, whom opponents had assumed was less enthusiastic about Mr Blair’s final policy review than the Prime Minister, endorsed a range of ideas aimed at making the services more tailored to people’s needs, with more choice and a “greater diversity of providers”. In a move that delighted Blairites, he backed the controversial city academies programme.

A policy report included plans to make it easier for the private sector and other providers to set up smaller schools where larger existing ones were failing, and to allow the tendering of contracts for “multiple failing schools”. Another suggestion was to give schools and hospital league tables additional satisfaction ratings, like those provided on eBay.

The Chancellor is clearly not bound to accept the results of Mr Blair’s six policy reports if he becomes prime minister, but he is widely expected to cherry-pick them as he draws up his own government programme.

At the document’s launch in Hackney, East London, Mr Blair said: “What we want is to keep these basic public service values, which are about access to quality public services irrespective of your wealth, but make sure those are truly personalised services where there is a much greater diversity of provider and the old ways of working are broken down.”

Mr Blair said that it was important to “empower” public service workers and reach out to the most excluded in society.

Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, said: “Technology is really expanding what is possible. The new technology that we are introducing into the health service will allow staff to offer people much more flexible access to healthcare, appointments at more convenient times, patients able to register closer to work or choose an operation closer to relatives.”

Mr Brown said: “The next stage of improving our public services is personalised services tailored towards people’s needs.” He gave the examples of a pharmacy being able to give blood tests, or children being offered personalised tuition to make sure that they did not fall behind their classmates.

Mr Brown also promised to make announcements on the Government’s city academies programme in his Budget tomorrow. He said that the conclusions of the policy review would form the basis of the Comprehensive Spending Review due in the summer.

Andrew Lansley, the Shadow Health Secretary, said: “We agree with Gordon Brown and Tony Blair about increasing choice and putting patients first. But over the past ten years their mania for state control and directing things from the centre has resulted in the cuts to the NHS we are now seeing up and down the country.”

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat spokesman, said: “Tony Blair’s idea of choice has little to do with what people actually want. The Government’s view of widening choice in hospital care is in effect giving people the choice of different hospital building, often far from their home.

“Patients cannot exercise real choice unless they have a say over who is treating them and what kind of treatment they are getting. Personalised learning in education is not about choosing between schools; it is about ensuring pupils get the help and support they need, no matter what school they go to.”

The Professional Association of Teachers said that allowing online satisfaction ratings of schools or posting children’s progress on school websites could be counter-productive. Philip Parkin, its general secretary, said: “People are generally more motivated to complain than to praise. Those who were satisfied might not bother to give ratings, while less well-off parents might not be online.

“Parents with a grudge against a school, because, for example, their child has been disciplined, or former pupils wanting to cause mischief, could post damaging comments.”

Examples of ‘tailored’ services

-Telling patients how much their visit to a GP costs the NHS

-School websites that give updated details of children's progress, attendance and homework record

-More NHS “walk-in” centres, especially where there are not enough doctors, and opening more surgeries in evenings and at weekends

-Competition to be extended to council services, such as street-cleaning and foster care

-Shoppers to be able to visit a GP at the chemist’s or supermarkets like Boots or Tesco

-Residents angry about the condition of their streets, including practices such as fly-tipping, will get cameras to spur council officials into action

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