Peter Hain, secretary of state for the Department of Work and Pensions, is keen to make it known that he is not bound to ideology, but to "what delivers".
Three months into the job, he is looking at the green paper on the future of welfare services drawn up under John Hutton with fresh eyes.
But Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, who hosted a fringe debate on the proposals to hive the bulk of business to private and voluntary sector organisations, wasn't so sure the new secretary of state really has much room for manoeuvre.
The union leader, whose tough stance on opposing civil service cuts and fragmentation of services makes him a thorn in the government's side, pointed out that Mr Hain said in the same breath that he had a departmental budget to consider, and that it was being squeezed.
So farming off services to outside agencies seems to be the government's way of making ends meet.
The meeting brought out the key tension between the government and public sector unions - namely, that even if the new Brown regime promises to "listen" more to the people delivering key services, it looks set to continue with the reform agenda founded by Tony Blair, which believes that efficiency and innovation are more routinely found in the private sector, and the more "responsive" voluntary sector.
Where is the evidence for that, asked Mr Sertwotka?
While Mr Hain is seen as a more sympathetic ear to union concerns - illustrated yesterday by his announcement to resolve the row with the GMB over the Remploy factory closures - unions are not convinced the reform map will be radically redrawn.
