White Paper
Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:03 am
Public sector reforms: parish councils can ban strip clubs
Parish councils will be allowed to impose parking charges, take over leisure centres and even revoke strip club licences, as part of new powers to run their neighbourhoods.
Parish councils will also be able to take control of libraries, local museums and parks, under plans announced yesterday by David Cameron.
The proposals are contained in a White Paper that aims to open up nearly all public sector services to competition from the private and voluntary sector.
The Prime Minister said it was the first step on the road to a "better, fairer country" in which people enjoy more choice, less bureaucracy, improved services and equal access for rich and poor.
The White Paper will enshrine a duty on public sector bodies to tender all of their contracts to private providers.
The Government also said it would legislate "to enshrine an overarching right to choice in individual services" in areas such as education, health, social care and housing.
The White Paper also proposes that the consumer charity Which? can extend its role from assessing products and services in the private sector to cover the public sector as well.
The only areas protected from the reforms will be the police, judiciary and security services.
The White Paper also proposes introducing year-on-year improvement standards to deal with "coasting schools".
Mr Cameron, speaking in east London, said he was "absolutely determined" to see through wholesale reform of the public services.
The document listed a series of public services that form the "foundation stones of a civilised society".
These included a right that "our bins are collected regularly", that children are taught properly and that an ambulance comes when people dial 999.
Labour dismissed the proposals as containing "few new ideas and even fewer new proposals".
Tessa Jowell, the shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, accused the Coalition of "lagging behind" the actions taken by the last Labour government.
Extra powers for Which?
The watchdog Which? is to be given expanded powers to act as an advocate for private sector consumers while overseeing the public sector.
The organisation would become an “agitator for choice” in local services, ensuring that there is enough competition and advising consumers about their rights. Ministers will also expand the role of ombudsmen to investigate complaints about the quality of local services, enlarging their current remit which includes housing, council services and health.
Under the reforms laid out in the White Paper, public services providers will also be forced to publish more data about their performance.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... clubs.html