The health, education, welfare and care services are to become more personal, Gordon Brown promised yesterday.

In his first appearance before the Commons Liaison Committee, the Prime Minister said that he would build on the changes of the Blair years and make a “wider and deeper” reform of the public services, tailoring them to the needs of the individual.

During a relaxed performance in which Mr Brown dealt – without notes – with the many subjects raised, he said: “I think you will see it [reform] intensify and I think you will see it wider and deeper in future years than it has been in the last few years.

“The next stage is to combine the diversity of supply with greater attention to diversity in demand. In other words, services that meet the personal needs of the individual citizen. So you will be talking not just about public services, but about personal services, not just about a universal service that seems to be uniform, but a service that is tailored to people’s needs.”

He cited as examples one-to-one teaching in schools for those who needed it – from the most gifted pupils to those who were falling behind – and the elderly and disabled being able to direct their own care with finance provided through the social services.

Mr Brown opened with a joking reference to how he would have to be late for yesterday’s signing of the EU reform treaty because he wanted to appear before MPs. “I think you can see the priority I attach to attending this committee,” he said.

As well as personalised services, Mr Brown said that there would be a greater focus on one-to-one relationships between individuals and doctors, teachers and other professionals.

Citing the long-term unemployed, people leaving care and those trying to get off drugs, he said: “What makes a big difference to their lives is one-to-one contact, someone who is there to give assistance to them.”

The Prime Minister said that such work was more than the public sector could often provide, so there would be greater use of the voluntary sector. “Volunteering is going to become more important in this country,” he said.

Challenged about the performance of the independent sector treatment centres, Mr Brown said that private involvement would continue to grow.

“The role of the private sector in this area is expanding and will continue to expand and will be a lot bigger in the next few years than it is now.”

Mr Brown added that the Government was looking at what it could do to encourage more private-sector competition for public contracts.

He added: “The extension of it to the GP sector and social care sector is going to be increasingly important in the years to come.”

Mr Brown said that he was determined to “root out failure” across the public services.

“The culture of the second best is not acceptable to me. It is a culture of excellence that we want to achieve. Therefore we have got to root out failing schools, we have got to deal, as we will, with failing hospitals and failing trusts,” he said.

“Where there is a toleration of second best, my motto will be: ‘Fail no more, second best no more, tolerating failure no more’.”

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.

Mr Brown said that the state-assisted scheme for school places had not worked in the past and there should be no return to it as the present system was working far better at turning around “failing” schools.

He said that the Government was moving “farther 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.”The Prime Minister also said that people wanting to become British citizens or apply for permanent residence should have to speak English and accept their responsibilities to society. He insisted that it was possible to define a set of British rights and responsibilities, distinct from universal human rights.

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