Today's top society stories
UK's big freeze leaves many unable to pay for food and warmth
Recession hits post-industrial cities hardest, says report
Child protection: a police officer's harrowing account
Britain's new addicts: women who gamble online, at home, and in secret
Michael White on class war and social mobility
Other news
• The Daily Telegraph reports that new fathers will get parenting lessons under plans to be revealed in Labour's family green paper published on Wednesday
• The Telegraph also claims that the controversial Contactpoint child database has been breached at least three times, even before its launch at the end of this month
• "Homeless chic" is the theme of designer Vivienne Westwood's latest collection, showcased in Milan, where the models were styled to look like rough sleepers, reports the Times
Private in parts?
Will NHS privatisation become an election issue? The Conservatives have called for a "high level" summit with the voluntary sector to discuss "the huge contribution that third sector organisations can make to the delivery of public services". Noting that Labour has ignored requests from third sector bodies for a similar meeting, Oliver Letwin has written to Acevo chief executive Stephen Bubb to makes it clear how serious the party take the issue. The letter states:
I am writing to say that my colleagues, George Osborne, Francis Maude, Philip Hammond, Nick Hurd and I would very much welcome a high-level summit on these issues – which we regard as central to the delivery of more for less in public services and, hence, as a national priority over coming years.
Note the phrase "more for less". It adds:
I hope that I need hardly add that we also believe that the opportunity to apply the principle of payment by results in a wide range of public service delivery through competitive tenders – for example, in relation to our Get Britain Working programme, our Rehabilitation Revolution and in public health – offers the prospect of major improvements in public services and, at the same time, huge prospects for third sector organisations to deliver those improvements.
In some ways, not a surprise. Cameron made it clear in his speech on Sure Start last week that the third sector will have a key role to play in family support and intervention. But note that the examples quoted by Letwin do not appear to include core NHS services. Does the private and voluntary sector have a role to play in a Tory NHS? Many people would like to know, not least, I'm sure, the money men betting hundreds of millions of pounds on private hospitals winning lucrative NHS contracts over the next few years.
Labour, which has enthusiastically pursued a policy of mixed provision across public services for the past 10 years, has, at least when it comes to the health service, now decreed that the NHS is the "preferred provider" of health services. That statement of intent, made by the health secretary Andy Burnham, has been interpreted by some in the service, and by the trade unions, to be a sign that the private and voluntary sector's role would be diminished under Labour.
I'd take that with a pinch of salt. That "preferred provider" decision – or aspiration – has not been ratified by cabinet, and is subject to a formal investigation by the health service's own competition commission after complaints by private healthcare companies and charities. And as we reported on Friday, one of Labour's key advisor's seems pretty certain that the private sector has a future in the NHS.
If Labour is hedging its bets, where does that leave the Tories? Bubb asked this very question in an open appeal to the Tories on his blog last week:
So could we please clarify Tory policy on this? Will they immediately cancel the Burnham policy if they take over? We need clarity ... at least a firm letter that makes clear what you will do ... No fudging on what is a fundamental issue for the sector. We expect you to restore a competitive policy where you encourage sector delivery.
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