Thank you Andrew for the introduction and to everyone at the Fabian society for today’s conference.   And for the work the Fabian Society is doing - generating ideas, vision, and purpose for the future just as Fabians have done for generations.
To Andrew for leading that work and to Ivana for the work of the Fabian Women’s Network too.   It was one hundred and five years ago, Beatrice Webb as a member of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws argued for:   ‘a national minimum of civilised life … open to all alike, of both sexes and all classes, by which we meant sufficient nourishment and training when young, a living wage when able-bodied, treatment when sick, and modest but secure livelihood when disabled or aged.’   Not so far from the things we still call for today.   An end to class and sex discrimination; an end to child poverty; comprehensive education and training; a health service for all; pensions in old age; support for disabled people; and an idea 100 years on, we think of as radical: the living wage.

 I’m glad people are here too when there are other draws this weekend. The joys of Glastonbury, or the carnival of London Pride. And as we think about the London Gay Men’s Chorus singing just a few streets from here “We’re getting married in the morning,” we should be celebrate the fact that people - whatever their gender or sexuality - can now marry the one they love. And we can be proud that Labour votes got the law through.   And on Armed Forces Day we pay tribute to those who risk their lives to keep us safe - and to their families who give so much for our country too.
NEXT YEAR’S ELECTION

 

It is 45 weeks until the General Election   After four years of Tory-Lib Dem Coalition government
Four years in which many families have seen the clock turned back
The economy is finally growing, but too many people still feeling over stretched, insecure, or left behind
More parents worried about their sons or daughters’ chances of a job or a home to call their own   More sons and daughters worried about how to care for their parents in old age

 

More insecure work, fewer homes built   More patients waiting for appointments or treatment
More victims denied justice, as fewer criminals are caught   We know how much is at stake. The people I’ve heard from across the country;   The mother I met in ASDA in West London who told me in tears how glad she was now of the summer warmth because she’d spent the winter putting her three year old to bed in jumpers because she couldn’t afford to pay her heating bills and the bedroom tax   Or the woman in Yorkshire who told me she couldn’t get an injunction out against her violent ex husband who was stalking her because she was told legal aid reforms meant had to pay herself  

The patient I was told about in the North East, waiting for his second round of cancer treatments, told by his consultant if he paid thousands of pounds he could get treatment straight away.

This is Tory and Liberal Democrat Britain   The first coalition government in Britain for 70 years   A coalition that has badly let Britain down.
Yet this is a government - and a Tory party - that will fight harder than ever alongside their friends to stay in power.   They expected to win in 2010. They don’t want to lose in 2015   They believe they have a divine right to rule   We know we have to earn every vote   And they will throw things at us

They will attack us, they will attack Ed as our leader, they will attack each and every one of us, and those we represent. And they will try to divide us.   We must stand firm. And we must stand together.   Thanks to Ed Miliband’s leadership, we have gone from our worst election defeat in four generations to a clear and steady lead in the polls in just 4 years.   When we lost in 2010, everyone thought we would fall apart, fighting each other, gazing at our navels
Thanks to Ed’s leadership, we have stayed together, focused on winning next year’s election

And I say to every corner of our party, we must not and we will not lose that focus and that unity now.
Thanks to the work Labour has done, we have won back hundreds more councillors since 2010, with more to go.   We’ve set out practical plans to help people - from more child care to youth jobs, from faster GP appointments to cheaper energy bills.   And we’re building a vision of Britain’s future - where no one is left behind, where everyone can get on.   So no one should underestimate Our determination   Because we know how much is at stake for the people this Government has turned their backs on.
For the ASDA mum, the Yorkshire victim of violence, the North East cancer patient.   We know how much is at stake for Britain’s future
CONTEXT   That’s why ten days ago at the IPPR, Ed Miliband and Rachel Reeves set out Labour plans to build a fairer economy and society

 

Next week Ed Balls and Chuka Umunna will set out plans on growth, the economy and industrial policy   And today Andy Burnham and I are talking about our public services. Jon Cruddas is talking about the Labour’s policy ideas for the future.   PUBLIC SERVICES   Because alongside the debate about our economy and society, be in no doubt that the future of our public services will be central to the General Election next year.
At a time when people feel insecure and overstretched, quality public services matter more than ever.
When families are worried about job security, or paying their bills, the last thing they need is to be worried about safety in their community, delays or payment for NHS treatment, or uncertainty over their children’s education.   Yet right now those vital public services we depend on are under growing threat.   THREAT TO OUR SERVICES   We’ve seen the evidence in our criminal justice system.   Neighbourhood policing is being drastically cut back, even though violent crime has started to rise   Prosecutions for domestic and sexual violence have dropped even though reported crimes are going up. 999 waits are getting longer, and far fewer crimes are being solved.   Similarly, as Andy Burnham has shown, the NHS is under great strain - with longer waiting times and pressure on A&E. Meanwhile schools face great uncertainty, with maximum resources going into only a minority of schools, as Tristram Hunt has highlighted recently in Parliament.   The impact of cuts has been hard felt - and we argued from the start that the scale and pace of cuts at a time when the economy was still so weak, would be damaging and counterproductive.   But it’s not just about the pace of cuts.   This Tory-led coalition has pursued ideologically driven policies which are undermining the very ethos of many of our vital public services   In the criminal justice system, and across our public services Ministers are driving fragmentation, reorganisation and competition just at a time when local services need to collaborate more to deliver better services and save money too.   Introducing Police and Crime Commissioners has made it harder, not easier, to get agreement on IT across all police forces. And whilst Labour PCCs have worked hard to collaborate with each other and with local councils, in some areas we’ve seen collaboration plans ripped up simply because PCCs don’t get along.   Plans for new private probation contracts are putting at risk joint working on offender management.   Commissioning chaos and competition in NHS, forcing in private sector contracts and making it harder for hospitals to work together.   Free schools disrupting neighbouring schools by siphoning off scarce resources.   And instead of focusing services around those who use them - victims of crime, patients, children and parents - the Government is putting its focus on commissioners and big, impersonal, private sector contracts. Just four companies dominate public services - Capita, G4S, Serco and Atos - crowding out smaller organisations and failing to deliver value for money too.
Low income areas have been hit by the deepest cuts, women have been harder hit than men.   Prevention work has been right cut back and public sector staff have been left to put sticking plasters over crises because there is no long term plan to cope with the scale and distribution of cuts that the Government has forced through.
Ministers seek only to blame public sector staff - nurses, teachers, police - with no positive agenda for raising standards and developing or making most of professional expertise   Staff in all our public services have shown great resilience over the last four years, holding services together despite the chaos forced upon them and the lack of any Government plan to deal with rising expectations and changing demand. But they are really worried that in many areas things are reaching breaking point.
Police officers have told me they have no way to cope with growing new crimes - especially things like online child abuse and online fraud.
Some Chief Constables have already stopped neighbourhood policing and others are set to follow suit.   Councillors warn they cannot cope with rising demand for social care and they are having to give up on some of the other services local government was set up to provide.   Many who depend on our public services and who work in them fear now that five more years of this kind of destructive fragmentation and competition alongside the next wave of Tory planned cuts will lead to an existential crisis in some of our most important services.

Be in no doubt that is what many in the Tory party want. They want people to believe that our public services are unaffordable, too much of a burden that cannot be sustained.
That is what they argued in the 1990s and we proved them wrong. That is what they argued in the face of the great reforming post war Labour government. We have proved them wrong before. We must do so again.   Because our public services are too important to let the Tories destroy them in this way   RESOURCES WILL BE TIGHT   But we know we will face challenges.  

The failure of George Osborne’s economic policy, the fact that growth was delayed for three years, and the failure to get the deficit down as a result means our public services face a difficult time ahead.
We have to show we can still deliver better services when money is tight - which is why Ed Balls and Chris Leslie established Labour’s Zero-Based Review.
Woven deep into the fabric of all of our policies, from policing to schools, is the need for value for money. We must be hard-headed. We must make difficult choices. We must defend against waste or inefficiency in the public services.  And show how we can do more for less.
But just because resources are tight, doesn’t mean we can’t improve our public services or set out the big differences in values and policies we and other parties have. In fact quite the opposite.   It is because resources are tight, that public services are more important than ever

To support our economy - the childcare, education and training, we need To strengthen communities when they are under pressure To protect families when they feel insecure To widen opportunities and equality when too many people are being left behind.

We have a different set of values, of instincts, of allegiances. For the many, not the few; for social justice, not social fragmentation. Labour progressive values, not Tory prejudice   The Tories are ideologically driven by the view that public services are a burden that create dependence and are part of a state that needs to shrink as far as it can.   We believe in quality public services that give people confidence, opportunity and build independence.   The Tories have a narrow, limited view of public services.
We believe the purpose of our public services should be to build opportunities, strengthen communities, tackle injustice and inequality.   So, unlike Theresa May who believes policing is only fighting crime, 'pure and simple’, we believe in neighbourhood policing that builds stronger, safer communities - fighting crime, but also preventing crime, helping people live free from fear, protecting those most vulnerable of all.   Our vision is not to create services for the sake of it; nor to create a safety net, like the Tories, nor to bow to the vested interests within the public services.   But public services with a purpose - promoting opportunities and empowerment.   LABOUR REFORMS   But we can’t do any of that without reform.

As Ed Miliband in his Hugo Young lecture made clear, Labour reforms - in particular empowering those who use services can help improve services and save money too
In criminal justice, as in other services, that means four things:   *    services that are personalised - giving power to individuals, families and communities; *    creating partnerships & collaboration rather than fragmentation & enforced competition; *    focussing on long term prevention; *    raising professional standards.   Let me say a little about each in turn
PERSONALISATION   Ed Miliband was right to say that public services must shaped and controlled by the people who use them, not just those who deliver them or who fund them.
We want to see services shaped round the decisions of users, instead of the Coalition shaping services round the contracting decisions of commissioners.   It’s why Andy Burnham has been clear that a Labour-run NHS will be focused on whole-person care, and why Tristram Hunt’s Labour vision recognises the different needs and talents of every child.

It is why Labour is committed to putting victims at the heart of the criminal justice system, able to hold local police forces and the CPS to account. Too often victims have said it feels like the system is designed around criminals. We want to shift the balance back in favour of victims.   That is why Sadiq Khan is drawing up a new victims law - working with Doreen Lawrence, Keir Starmer and Peter Neyroud.   And we want victims to have more say too - over how restorative justice should work, over access to information, and a stronger say if the police won’t pursue their domestic violence or rape cases.   The Tories believe personalisation can only come with a price tag. If you want your services to go the extra mile, you have to pay the extra bill.   As Ed Miliband said in his Hugo Young lecture:
'the challenges facing public services are just too complex to deliver in an old-fashioned, top down way without the active engagement of the patient, the pupil or the parent: from mental health, to autism, to care for the elderly, to giving kids the best start in the early years.’   We want public services which engage and involve the public. We want services shaped by their user, that’s not just good from democratic point of view, it also helps secure improvements to services and value for money.   This is the information age, where the wisdom of the ages is available from a device in your pocket.

This is an age of questions and scrutiny, where the experts are challenged by citizens.   Today, citizens are querulous, informed, empowered by knowledge.   Often the patient with a long-term condition will know best how to manage it.
Communities will know best how to prevent persistent crimes in their area.
Because it isn’t just about individual service users, it’s about communities too   Not like David Cameron’s Big Society - just a way to shift blame, abandoning services and leaving valiant volunteers to try to pick up the pieces.   But working together.   We know close working and partnership between the police and communities is more important than ever - that’s why we need to strengthen that relationship through neighbourhood policing, not undermine it by forcing the police all back into their cars.

Local police teams should be directly accountable to local communities. So local district councils should be involved in appointing the local police commanders.   And they and local communities should set the priorities for neighbourhood policing - not at the force level - but at the street level.“   PARTNERSHIPS   We also believe resources can be saved and services improved through cooperation, while the Tories are wasting money and damaging services through fragmentation and the creation of artificial competition.   We want to see police forces working more closely together with each other and with councils and the NHS.
 Joint services such as the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub - set up by Labour led Wakefield Council and West Yorkshire Police. Detectives, social workers, education officers and health workers together in the same child protection team - and in the same room - saving money, but more importantly rescuing lives.   Or Labour led Lambeth Council, handing over budgets and decisions on stopping gang crime to the communities and parents who have most at stake and the most practical ideas about how to put it right.   PREVENTION   Early intervention and prevention work also save billions in the cost of failure later on.   For example, something as simple as compulsory, updated sex and relationship education can help young people learn respect and prevent violent and abusive relationships that cause decades of damage. Yet still the Tories refuse it.   For example where hospitals share information with the police about people being admitted with knife or gun wounds, that can drive targeted work to cut violent crime.   STANDARDS AND PROFESSIONALISM
And when resources are tight we have to make the most of the talents, ideas and professionalism of our staff, with clear policies to raise standards too. That’s why Tristram Hunt is insisting that teachers should be qualified, in all state schools, including those not under local education authority control - with better plans to raise professional development and skills.   And its why Lord Stevens independent commission into the future of policing that we commissioned said we should strengthen the idea of policing as a profession - bringing in chartered police officers, backed by a stronger College of Policing, better professional development.   And Labour would replace the IPCC with a tougher new Police Standards Authority, to take action and raise standards when policing goes wrong. It must be able to launch its own investigations swiftly without the need for referrals from police forces - and able to shed light into the currently obscure system of police misconduct, with public hearings for cases of serious misconduct, like with nursing, where people can be struck off.   CONCLUSION

 

In all these areas and more, following Labour values can improve our public services and get better value for money too.
Our public services are precious. They civilise our society. They express the best human instincts of care and compassion. They equip us as a nation to compete in the global age.
 We can strengthen them, improve them, fight for them.

 All these things Labour can do, but only if we also fight with every sinew to win votes and win the election too.   We know many people are turned off politics.   We know we need to work hard to persuade people who may not be interested   But what’s at stake are the things that affect people’s lives - from the bobby on the beat to the NHS they love.   Because in the end the values that underpin our public services are very British;   Our British tradition of policing by consent, the public are the police and the police are the public; exactly what neighbourhood policing is all about   Education opportunity and excellence for all, not just some  

And of course our National Health Service, so British it was at the heart of our Olympic opening ceremony   These British values, these Labour values, are the ones we need to fight for now. Because as Ed Miliband said nearly a year ago, "Britain can do better than this.”   That’s why we have to get Ed Miliband into 10 Downing Street, and a Labour Government elected next year.