Gordon Brown will outline new entitlements for NHS patients and will pledge to give priority on housing waiting-lists to local residents, as part of a series of policy announcements this afternoon.
The plans come as Brown seeks to regain the political initiative, launching a new government document Building Britain’s Future today.
Under Brown’s proposal, councils will be required to take account of applicants’ links to the area when distributing homes. It will be accompanied by up to £500 million of extra spending on social housing.
There are currently 1.6 million households on council waiting lists and Labour backbenchers have warned ministers that resentment over the issue has bred support for the British National Party.
On healthcare, Brown will promise to fund private care for patients if NHS Trusts cannot meet the 18-week target for hospital treatment.
The plan, significantly increasing the role of the private sector, is likely to provoke anger among Labour backbenchers and health unions.
Other new entitlements will include free health checkups for the over-40s, guaranteed access to a cancer specialist within two weeks of referral and the offer of palliative care at home.
The Work and Pensions Secretary, Yvette Cooper, denied that the new entitlements amounted to a “lawyers’ charter”.
She added: “People in their own local towns and cities do want to know that their services are listening to what they want.
“It's getting that local focus, at the heart of public services, to drive improvements in the future.”
She refused to confirm whether NHS trusts who failed to meet entitlements would have funding withdrawn.
“There are . . . areas, in which you do have penalties, where actually you don’t get the services improved, but this will depend on particular areas,” she said.
