The government is expected to sign deals worth 20 billion pounds with the private sector in the next three years. This compares with 12 billion pounds worth of deals from 1997, which included 35 major hospital projects. The priorities for capital investment are health, education and transport. The pipeline includes 25 new health and 60 new education projects.Among the benefits claimed for public private partnerships are a 17% cost saving which comes from harnessing private sector financial and management disciplines as well as skills and expertise.

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Chancellor Gordon Brown announced in his Budget that health and education will receive the major share of the new money going into public services..Spending on the health service will rise from 45.1 billion pounds in 1999/2000 to 49.3 billion pounds next year. By 2004 it will have risen to 68.7 billion pounds. Over the four years this will be an increase of 35%, taking inflation into account. Looked at in terms of expenditure per household in the UK,1850 pounds was spent last year and this will rise to 2800 pounds in 2004. By 2004 UK expenditure on health will be 7.4% of GDP, but it will still be below the EU average of 8%. It is planned to recruit an additional 10,000 nurses and a prime use of the new money will be to reduce waiting lists.

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Most police forces have increased expenditure above the level of inflation, some by more than 15%. For fire services the upper figure is 10%. The Audit Commission found that there was no direct link between level of expenditure and quality of service. The report reveals wide disparity between the best police forces and fire services and those at the bottom of the league tables and the gap is widening. The detection rate for burglaries in the best performing metropolitan forces is almost twice that for the worst. The average time taken to carry out fire safety inspections varies from 30 to over 400 days. Police forces and fire brigades are urged to discuss their performance with their local communities, and where variations exist, examine the performance of similar forces or brigades to identify how improvements can be made.Local Authority Performance Indicators: Police and Fire Services 1997/98
(ISBN 1862401454) are available from Audit Commission Publications on freephone 0800 502030 priced 20 pounds.

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