David Cameron opens public service door to private firms

PRIVATE companies are to be allowed to bid to run public services under reforms unveiled by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Mr Cameron said that his changes would end the state monopoly in "pretty much" every part of the public sector throughout the UK, except national security, front-line policing and the judiciary.

He said they marked the first step on the road to a "better, fairer country" in which citizens would enjoy "more freedom, more choice and more local control".

But unions responded with fury, accusing him of ushering in wholesale privatisation.

While devolved services in Scotland such as health and education will be protected, the new law is set to affect some UK-wide services north of the Border including welfare. The white paper floats plans to enshrine in law "a general right to choose" in public services, with powers for the ombudsman to act as an "enforcer of choice" on behalf of service users. In all but a few services, the state will be required to allow competition from the private and voluntary sectors unless it can justify a monopoly.