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20 February 2011
Last updated at 23:12 ET
David Cameron has promised to transform the way schools, hospitals and council services are run and end the state's monopoly over the public sector.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the prime minister described his vision of "open public services".
He said they desperately needed an injection of creativity and innovation, and promised to release public services from the "grip of state control".
Unions are expected to be critical of the plans, the BBC's Vicki Young says.
'Better service' Mr Cameron added the initiative was was an important part of his Big Society agenda.
The prime minister said he wanted an automatic right for private sector bodies to bid for public work, decision-making power to be given back to professionals, and people to have more control over the budget for the service they receive.
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Mr Cameron wrote: "We will create a new presumption - backed up by new rights for public service users and a new system of independent adjudication - that public services should be open to a range of providers competing to offer a better service.
"Of course, there are some areas - like national security services or the judiciary - where this wouldn't make sense. But everywhere else should be open to real diversity."
Mr Cameron promised to end the "old-fashioned, top-down, take-what-you're-given" model of public services.
He insisted the state still had a crucial role to play in ensuring fair funding and access.
The government hopes the plan will reduce bureaucracy, improve quality and save money.
'Open and accountable' Ministers are due to publish a White Paper outlining the changes in the next fortnight.
BBC political correspondent Vicki Young says it is likely to be fiercely criticised by trade unions who will interpret it as paving the way for privatisation.
But Mr Cameron said: "This is not about destabilising the public services that people rely on; it is about ensuring they are as good as they can be.
"These are practical reforms, driven by a clear rationale that the best way to raise quality and value for money is to allow different providers to offer services in an open and accountable way.
"Our public services desperately need an injection of openness, creativity and innovation. These reforms will bring that - and that is why I am determined to see them through."
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the prime minister described his vision of "open public services".
He said they desperately needed an injection of creativity and innovation, and promised to release public services from the "grip of state control".
Unions are expected to be critical of the plans, the BBC's Vicki Young says.
'Better service' Mr Cameron added the initiative was was an important part of his Big Society agenda.
The prime minister said he wanted an automatic right for private sector bodies to bid for public work, decision-making power to be given back to professionals, and people to have more control over the budget for the service they receive.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
This is not about destabilising the public services that people rely on; it is about ensuring they are as good as they can be”
End Quote
David Cameron
Mr Cameron wrote: "We will create a new presumption - backed up by new rights for public service users and a new system of independent adjudication - that public services should be open to a range of providers competing to offer a better service.
"Of course, there are some areas - like national security services or the judiciary - where this wouldn't make sense. But everywhere else should be open to real diversity."
Mr Cameron promised to end the "old-fashioned, top-down, take-what-you're-given" model of public services.
He insisted the state still had a crucial role to play in ensuring fair funding and access.
The government hopes the plan will reduce bureaucracy, improve quality and save money.
'Open and accountable' Ministers are due to publish a White Paper outlining the changes in the next fortnight.
BBC political correspondent Vicki Young says it is likely to be fiercely criticised by trade unions who will interpret it as paving the way for privatisation.
But Mr Cameron said: "This is not about destabilising the public services that people rely on; it is about ensuring they are as good as they can be.
"These are practical reforms, driven by a clear rationale that the best way to raise quality and value for money is to allow different providers to offer services in an open and accountable way.
"Our public services desperately need an injection of openness, creativity and innovation. These reforms will bring that - and that is why I am determined to see them through."