The government has spelled out how it will double capital investment in public services over the next three years in order to bring hospital buildings, GP surgeries, and social housing up to scratch.
All 23 government departments today published three year investment strategies outlining their plans to disburse the increases in capital spending announced by chancellor Gordon Brown in July.
Prime minister Tony Blair launched the investment plans, saying the government had "a vital responsibility to maintain and improve the nation's infrastructure".
Spending plans include £1.4bn a year to repair the health service's crumbling infrastructure and replace "unsafe", outdated, and inefficient medical equipment and facilities.
Nearly £2bn is to be generated from the private sector this year in order to invest in upgrading social housing, regenerating communities and improving energy efficiency in 1m buildings.
Blair said the government would double the proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) committed to public investment in the next three years in order to tackle the "dire" situation it inherited in 1997. But he also accepted some blame for public sector underinvestment.
"I accept that because we were taking the action necessary for laying stable economic foundations, in our first two years we were unable to get in as much investment as we know our public services need," he said.
Investment plans include:
• A £1.4bn increase in NHS capital spending. This will include: 100 major new hospital projects by 2010; 250 new scanners; and modernisation of more than 3,000 GP premises;
• Half a million houses to be brought up to a "decent" standard by 2004 - cutting by a third the number of families living in poor social housing. All social housing will be "decent" by 2010.
A Treasury white paper published simultaneously today outlines a new framework by which each department's spending will be monitored, inlcuding the introduction of commercial accounting techniques.
Each department will be required to update and publish their investment strategies, while all large capital projects will be put through a "rigorous process of scrutiny" by the new Office of Government Commerce.
