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We will make government accountable to the people

Thursday, July 8 2010

David Cameron (Photo credit: Andrew Parsons)

In a speech to civil servants, the Prime Minister has set out plans to make government departments far more accountable to the British public.

He pledged to end Labour's top-down, centralising approach, which measured everything "against a set of targets and performance indicators, monitored and inspected centrally."

David Cameron said the new system, to be introduced by the Conservative-led coalition, will bring about several key reforms:

  • Choice - giving people the freedom to choose where they get treated and where they send their child to school
  • Competition - allowing a new generation of providers to make our public services better
  • Payment by results - introducing the principle of paying providers by the results they achieve
  • Direct democracy - police will stop looking to Whitehall for direction and start looking to the people
  • Transparency - ensuring the public see they are getting value for money from government services
  • Delivering more for less - by allowing social enterprises and charities to compete, we will drive down costs and put pressure on providers to raise their game.

Concluding his speech, the Prime Minister said, "This government believes in accountability: but it has to be democratic accountability, not bureaucratic accountability."

And he added, "So let's push power out, let's reform our public services, and let's change our country for the better."

Read the speech in full.

Rt Hon David Cameron

David was elected Leader of the Conservatives in December 2005 and appointed Prime Minister in May 2010.

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