Dear Alan, Thank you so much if you have signed the petition for public services for people not profit or contacted politicians over the last year about the Public Service Users Bill. Your actions are helping us pile on the pressure! This afternoon we got our first ever phone call from Ed Milibands office. They have asked us to pass on Eds response to you – please see below. Were really pleased that the Public Service Users Bill is now on Ed Milibands agenda. However, he hasnt yet promised to include the Bill in Labours election manifesto. Weve tried to clarify this with the office but theyre not giving an answer yet. As party conferences are coming up, now is the perfect time to push for this commitment. If you havent yet, please email your MP about the Bill which will really help to turn up the heat on all the parties. As theres a chance to influence Ed Miliband right now you could also write to him directly. When our public services are handed over to private companies, we are the biggest losers. The Bill will promote public ownership as the default option. In cases where private companies are involved we will be able to see their performance and financial data and have a right to recall them. Please write to your MP about the Bill – we have a great opportunity right now. Thanks so much for putting this on Ed Milibands agenda Cat and the We Own It team PS Here in the office, We Own It is a very small not-for-profit organisation, mostly run by volunteers and led by one part-time paid member of staff. We Own It is a community over 20,000 strong and growing fast. We’re a passionate group not afraid of telling the government what, you, our supporters are saying and taking action. Will you chip in to support the campaign? The response from Ed Milibands office: Thank you for your email regarding the outsourcing of public services and the related We Own It campaign concerning a Public Service Users Bill. We appreciate your concern about the outsourcing of some public sector contracts under the current Government and know that We Own It are calling for a Public Service Users Bill to be introduced in order to increase public engagement in our public services and improve transparency in public-private contracts. We believe that we need a new culture in our public services and that more power should be put in the hands of patients, parents and public service users. We also believe there is a case for looking at how Freedom of Information (FOI) laws apply where services are outsourced, so that the public knows how their money is being spent on running our prisons, schools and hospitals. Labour believe public-private partnerships can be effective, although it is vital that all public-private contracts pass tough tests on value for money, resilience, transparency and security. It is also crucial that there is public confidence in all providers of public services and we know that this has been undermined by recent revelations about a number of public-private contracts, including those of G4S and Serco with the Ministry of Justice, which has led to an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. A number of campaign groups and trade unions have raised similar concerns regarding the outsourcing of police, probation and HMRC services under the current Government. We are also extremely concerned about the increasing privatisation of NHS services and the competition regime that was introduced by the Governments 2012 Health and Social Care Act, which we fear is preventing sensible collaboration within the NHS and diverting resources which could be better spent on improving patient care. It is clear that the Government urgently need to address these concerns and we agree that the future of public services should remain high on the political agenda in the run up to the General Election. The Private Members Bill you refer to in your email - The Public Services (Ownership and User Involvement) Bill - failed to receive Second Reading in the House of Commons before the end of the 2013/14 session, so it will not make further progress at this stage. I would like to assure you that we will continue to press the Government to ensure that our public services are driven by quality and value for taxpayers money. Thank you once again for taking the time to get in touch on this important issue. Yours sincerely, Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP weownit.org.uk/people-not-profit
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 17:42:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015