Research into the attitudes of public servants to the modernization agenda have revealed a high level of suspicion about the true intentions of the Government. Local authority chief executives, childcare team managers and health visitors acknowledge the need to transform and enhance services, but they also believe that there is a hidden agenda.Researchers from Bristol Business School and the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the University of the West of England found a common belief that the modernization programme to transform health and welfare provision was about reducing it to a residual system and to bring about a greater centralization. They view the centralizing tendencies as a lack of trust of local democratic processes and as a step towards the dismantling of local public provision of certain key services.

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A panel of 15 business leaders are offering their skills and expertise to Local Strategic Partnerships in disadvantaged areas. They will help the partnerships to identify opportunities for private sector activity, and suggest how to overcome any barriers.A key objective of the Neighbourhood Renewal Private Sector Panel, launched by the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, will be to encourage businesses to unlock the potential of many disadvantaged communities and to invest in deprived neighbourhoods.

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The Programme for action sets out a three-year plan to carry forward the Recommendations in the 2002 Cross-Cutting Spending Review on health inequalities. The purpose of the programme is to ensure departments deliver on their commitments and that local action reflects this agenda. It provides the basis for meeting the 2010 national health inequalities target on life expectancy (by geographical area) and infant mortality (by social class) by building on current work, and addressing the wider causes of inequalities in the years beyond. The Programme is organised around the following themes to enable action on a broad front: supporting families, mothers and engaging communities and individuals to ensure relevance, responsiveness and sustainability; preventing illness and providing effective treatment and care and addressing the underlying determinants of health. The Department of Health’s Health Inequalities Unit will be responsible for monitoring the work across Government to tackle health inequalities.The programme is at: http://www.doh.gov.uk/healthinequalities/programmeforaction/index.htm

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