Britain's public services should evolve to deliver “truly personalised” healthcare and education from a variety of providers, Tony Blair said today as he laid out a policy review intended to guide the Government long after he has left office.

Flanked by Gordon Brown, his likely successor, Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, and Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, the Prime Minister released the first results of a policy review that has occupied 20 Cabinet-level meetings and filled more than 60 policy papers since it began last October.

Mr Blair identified five principles underpinning the next and completing phase of the new Labour project to reform Britain's public services and outlined a range of ideas including expanded roles for pharmacies; individual teaching plans for students and the increased use of "contracts" between citizens and the state, in which, for instance, an obese person would promise to do more exercise in return for healthcare.

"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’s a much greater diversity of provider and the old ways of working are broken down," he said.

Expert View

This concept of "personalised public services" is very much the new buzz word and I think it will make for the next stage of new Labour's public service reforms

Philip Webster, Political Editor

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The five principles outlined in today's policy review, which focused on education and healthcare, are:

Empowering citizens to shape services. Examples: individualised education plans, giving patients with chronic illnesses choice over their treatment.

Diversity of supply. Examples: offering private care to patients facing long waiting times, allowing high street pharmacies to offer certain GP services.

Helping frontline public service workers. Examples: more responsibilities for nurses and teaching assistants, court reform to speed up case handling.

Reaching the most excluded. Examples: expanded use of parenting contracts to ensure school attendance, extra teaching "credits" for children from deprived areas.

Rights and responsibilities. Examples: a possible NHS constitution in which patients to promise to take exercise in return for healthcare, increased use of ASBOs by neighbourhood groups.

The policy review, regarded by some observers as an attempt by Mr Blair to ensure that his successors continue to pursue his agenda of public service reform, is intended to set the direction for a series of white papers and legislation this year. Five more policy papers, dealing with the environment, security, and crime and justice will be published in the coming months.

"I think we've come a long way in the last ten years but this is the direction we need to go in the future," said Mr Blair.

Mr Brown was keen to offer his support to the Prime Minister and some of his most controversial reforms today. Speaking after Mr Blair at the city academy in Hackney, east London, where the policy review was launched, the Chancellor promised to make "major announcements" in this week's budget in support of city academies, a policy which he has been reported to oppose.

He also stressed that the priorities of the current policy review would be incorporated into the Treasury's comprehensive review of public spending, which is expected to be concluded this summer and coincide with his election as the Labour party leader.

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