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Paperless direct debit
Allows charities to take "direct debit instructions" from donors, without having to send them forms to sign - including bank account details, the frequency and amount of donation. Details can be taken by telephone, internet or face to face and requires the charity to be signed up to Automated Direct Debit Instruction Service (AUDDIS) and the material has to be approved by their bank.
Big issue: charity finance
Related articles
Useful link: direct debit facts

Paramedic
Ambulance paramedics in the UK are highly experienced ambulance technicians who undertake at least two months' additional clinical training in lifesaving procedures, anatomy and physiology, advanced trauma management and treatment of serious medical emergencies. Paramedics learn a range of invasive skills and how to administer a wide range of drugs.
Big issue: NHS staff
Related articles
Useful link: Ambulance Service Association

Parental responsibility
"All the rights, duties, powers, responsibility and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property" - Children Act 1989 section 3 (1). A care order grants parental responsibility to a local authority but does not remove it from a child's parents.
Big issue: children's services
Useful link: Children Act 1989

Part M
The section of the building regulations aimed at ensuring homes and other properties are accessible to disabled people.
Related articles
Useful link: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - study for a review of the building regulations Part M

Pathway plan
Under the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000, all looked after children should have a pathway plan set up by their 16th birthday. The plan should set out the support that the young person will receive in transition to independent life, and should cover the period up to the age of 18 or when they are living independently.
Big issue: children's services
Related articles
Useful link: Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000

Patient advice and liaison services (Pals)
Introduced under Labour's reforms of patient and public involvement in the health service, Pals provide "on the spot" help and guidance about NHS services to patients. This could be how to access services, complain, or how to contact local medical conditions support groups. Pals are based in each trust and primary care trust.
See also: patient forums
Big issue: the NHS plan
Related articles
Useful link: Department of Health - involving patients and the public in health

Patient forums
After the government legislated to abolish community health councils, patient forums were created as the key public representative body in trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs). Their role will be to monitor the range and effectiveness of services provided by their host organisation, to seek out patients' views, and oversee the trust's patient advice and liaison committee. They will report their findings to the trust and to other stakeholders. A member of the patient forum will have a seat on the trust executive board. PCT patient forums will have additional responsibilities to work with other local patient forums to provide an area-wide strategic view of service-user issues and promote public involvement in health matters.
See also: patient advice and liaison services and primary care trusts
Big issue: primary care
Related articles
Useful link: Department of Health - involving patients and the public in health

Patient transport service (PTS)
The PTS transports patients with non-urgent conditions to and from a range of treatment settings including outpatients, disablement service centres, routine discharges and admissions, geriatric and psycho-geriatric day care, and non-urgent interhospital transfers. It is staffed by ambulance care assistants, who are trained in first aid, driving skills, and lifting and handling techniques.
Big issue: NHS staff
Related articles
Useful link: Ambulance Service Association

Pay review body (PRB)
The PRBs are independent panels that take evidence annually from the Department of Health and staff unions before making a recommendation on remuneration to the secretary of state for health, who (usually) accepts - and authorises - the recommended pay rise . There are two panels: one covering doctors and dentists and one for nursing staff, midwives, health visitors and professions allied to medicine.
Big issue: NHS staff
Related articles
Useful link: pay review body reports

Payment by results
A concept adopted by ministers as a way of injecting competition and incentives into the NHS. This has led to proposed reforms of the way the health service commissions treatment. In future, hospital trusts will receive funding not for simply providing capacity (beds, doctors and nurses) but according to the number of patients they treat - in other words "by results". Patients will be able to choose which hospital they are treated in, thereby increasing consumer choice, and the most efficient trusts, those who manage to cut their waiting times, will attract more funding. The concept has also been used to influence drug prescribing patterns and investment in public health: for example, primary care trusts which exceed agreed targets on smoking cessation prescriptions will receive a "cashback" payment from pharmaceutical companies.
Big issue: public finances
Related article
Useful link: Department of Health - NHS financial reforms

Payroll giving
A method of giving to charity through an employee's pay packet. Donations come straight from their gross pay before tax, effectively making the donation cheaper for the person donating. Until April 2003, the government has promised to add 10% to all payroll donations.
Big issue: charity finance
Related articles
Useful link: Inland Revenue - payroll giving

Peer review
A voluntary council inspection carried out by local government professionals and politicians rather than Whitehall inspectors. These voluntary reviews are organised by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) and are designed to show councils how they can improve their work. Also known as the local government improvement programme.
See also: Improvement and Development Agency
Related articles
Useful link: Improvement and Development Agency peer review pages

Performance assessment framework (PAF)
Performance indicators are published for all 150 council-run social services departments in England. The indicators are known collectively as the personal social services performance assessment framework (PAF). The indicators include delayed discharge, reviews of child protection cases, educational qualifications of looked after children and the employment, education and training of care leavers.
Big issue: social care reform and performance
Related articles
Useful link: Department of Health - personal social services PAF

Performance support
Programme developed by the local government Improvement and Development Agency that provides intensive support to poorly-performing local authorities. Involves sending experienced local government officials and politicians in to help solve the problems faced by troubled councils.
Related articles
Useful link: Improvement and Development Agency - performance support

Permanent endowment
Permanent endowment is property of the charity - including land, buildings, cash or investments - that the trustees may not spend as if it were income. It must be held permanently, either to be used in furthering the charity's purposes, or to produce an income for the charity. The trustees cannot normally spend permanent endowment without the charity commission's authority.
Big issue: charity finance
Related articles
Useful link: charity commission - about permanent endowment

Personal allowance
The weekly allowance that the government states people in residential or nursing homes should receive.
Big issue: long-term care
Useful link: Department of Health - moving into a care home

Personal medical services (PMS) pilots
Introduced via the NHS (Primary Care) Act 1997, PMS allows primary care providers such as GPs, nurses and community trusts to test different ways of delivering services. For GPs, PMS contracts replace the standard national GP contract; doctors are paid according to performance against targets based on meeting local health needs. PMS also allows GPs (who have traditionally been self-employed) to work on a salaried basis as employees of the local NHS authority.
See also: primary care
Big issue: NHS quality and performance
Related articles
Useful link: Department of Health - PMS pilots

Phoenix fund
Created in 1999 by the government, the phoenix fund's job is to help entrepreneurs in deprived areas to start up businesses.
Related articles
Useful link: small business service - phoenix fund

Placements
Arrangements made by social services for a person to be placed in foster, residential or nursing care on a short or long-term basis.
Related articles
Useful link: social services inspectorate

Policy action team
These expert teams were set up by the government to produce reports that formed the basis of the neighbourhood renewal strategy, published in 2001. The 18 PATs looked into issues that include unpopular housing, social enterprise and joined-up government.
Related articles
Useful link: Cabinet Office - PAT reports

Poor council
Category in the local government league table system that covers councils that provide inadequate services and show no sign of improvement. Most will be trying to improve their performance but lack the ability to do so effectively. The audit commission, which compiles the tables, says these councils are unlikely to make lasting changes without outside help. Of the 150 larger councils, 13 were ranked in this category in 2002.
Big issue: best value and inspection
See also: comprehensive performance assessment (CPA)
Related articles
Useful link: audit commission - league tables in full

Possession order
A legal document issued by a court giving a landlord the right to evict a tenant or leaseholder. Eviction itself is carried out by bailiffs.
Related articles
Useful link: Roof magazine - possession action by social landlords (pdf)

Poverty trap
A problem affecting people with low earnings claiming benefit who get stuck on low incomes because of the way their benefits are withdrawn as they earn more. For those affected the trap can act as a disincentive to taking on extra employment.
Related articles
Useful link: select committee on social security - housing benefits and work incentives

PPG 3
The planning policy guidance note three on housing, issued in 2000, urges councils to negotiate with private developers to provide more affordable housing in developments that mix different income groups. It also calls for better designs and more housing on brownfield sites.
Related articles
Useful link: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - PPG3

PPG 13
The planning policy guidance note 13 on transport is aimed at encouraging councils to promote planning decisions that reduce our reliance on the car. The guidance, which was launched in 1994 and updated in 2001, advocates making work, shops and leisure facilities more accessible by cycling, walking and public transport.
Related articles
Useful link: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - PPG13

Precept
The way in which county councils, police authorities, parish councils and some fire authorities raise funds through the council tax. Their charges are all included in a single bill issued by a billing authority.
See also: billing authority
and council tax
Big issue: public finances
Related articles
Useful link: former Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions - council tax

Preserved rights
The preserved rights benefit rates are the higher rates of income support paid to people who received public funding towards the cost of an independent nursing or residential care home place before the Community Care Act 1990 was implemented in 1993. The Health and Social Care Act 2001 abolished the scheme, transferring responsibility for care assessment, arrangement and funding to councils in April 2002.
Related articles
Useful link: Department of Health - preserved rights guide

Primary care
Services provided by family doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives, health visitors, pharmacists, optometrists and opthalmic medical practitioners.
See also: primary care trust
Big issue: NHS quality and performance
Related articles
Useful link: Department of Health - primary care

Primary care group (PCG)
Forerunners of primary care trusts, PCGs are voluntary GP-led groups with a range of duties from advising the local health authority on commissioning care for their local population, to commissioning care themselves. All PCGs are expected to become PCTs by April 2004.
See also: primary care trusts
Big issue: the NHS plan
Related articles
Useful link: Department of Health - primary care

Primary care trust (PCT)
Evolved from primary care groups, PCTs are free-standing statutory bodies that provide primary and community services and commission secondary (hospital) care on behalf of their local population. By April 2004, all PCG's are expected to be PCTs, which will commission 75% of the NHS budget.
See also: primary care group
Big issue: the NHS plan
Related articles
Useful link: Department of Health - primary care trusts

Priority despatch
A system of telephone triage used by ambulance services to ensure that the most urgent emergency calls, such as heart attacks, receive priority treatment. The system enables the call taker in the ambulance service control room to classify the telephone request into one of three categories: A (life threatening); B (serious but not life threatening); and C (minor emergencies). Traditionally, all 999 calls have to be answered by immediately sending an ambulance with paramedic crew; if used to full capability criteria despatch would allow the service to delay sending an ambulance to category C calls, or to refer the caller to another agency such as NHS Direct.
See also: paramedic
and NHS Direct
Big issue: NHS quality and performance
Related articles
Useful link: Department of Health - reforming emergency care
Useful link: Department of Health circular - modernisation of ambulance services (pdf)
Useful link: audit commission - value for money in emergency ambulance services

Priority need
Term used for various categories of homeless people who must be housed by a council. Groups include families with children and, since 2002, people who are fleeing domestic violence as well as those leaving care or prison.
Big issue: homelessness
Related articles
Useful link: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - homelessness priority needs categories

Private finance initiative (PFI)
A controversial method of providing new public buildings and projects such as schools, hospitals, roads and homes by using private sector money up front that is later repaid with interest by the state.
Under strict rules for the initiative, introduced in 1992, a private sector consortium designs, builds, finances and operates the new building or projects for a period of at least 25 years. The consortium will be regularly paid from public money depending on its performance throughout that period.
Big issue: private finance initiative
Useful link: Centre for Public Services - PFI what is it?

Procurement
The process of buying in goods or services from an external provider. Covers everything from determining the need for new goods to buying, delivering and storing them.
Related articles
Useful link: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - procurement review

Producer interests
Phrase used by politicians to describe (and often dismiss) groups within the public services' establishment (usually trade unions) which are opposed to its attempts to build flexible services around the needs of the service recipient ('the consumer interest') rather than the convenience of the workers who provide it ('the producer interest'). Thus at the 2002 Labour party conference, the party chairman, Charles Clarke attempted to undermine the revolt by the party's rank and file over the private finance initiative by suggesting it was driven by selfish 'producer interests'. Medical consultants, NHS ancillary staff, and local government workers can all be expected to be labelled as producer interests, as they fight attempts to change their working practices and contracts.
Related articles

Provider
Any body providing health or social care under contract arrangements with a purchasing body.

Prudential borrowing
New regime for council borrowing that will replace the current system of central government deciding how much debt a local authority can run up. Promised by ministers, but not yet introduced, the scheme will give councils much more freedom to decide how much they can afford to borrow.
Related articles
Useful link: former Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions - capital finance

Public benefit test
Under the draft charities bill, organisations seeking charitable status will have to pass a public benefit test to show they are benefiting the wider community. At present, organisations such as private schools that charge high fees have charitable status because their charitable purpose - the advancement of education - is presumed to be of public benefit, although few members of the public understand why Eton College is a charity. Ministers want to remove the presumption and have all charities' public benefit tested by the charity commission. Debate on the draft bill has centred on how public benefit should be defined and how it can be tested.
Big issue: charity reform
Related articles
Useful link: text of draft bill (pdf)

Public charitable collection
Or "tin rattling". Describes volunteers or employees of a charity collecting cash donations on the street or door to door. Collectors carry and display a badge and certificate of authority.
Big issue: charity finance
Related articles
Useful link: Institute of Charity Fundraising Managers' code on house to house collections

Public interest company (PIC)
Organisations usually set up to deliver a public service with public money, but run along the lines of a business with operational independence from Whitehall. They are often accountable instead to local service users, staff or commissioners. The government's planned foundation hospitals are a form of public interest company, and the model has been used in local government to run leisure centres and recycling services. Also known as public benefit organisations and mutuals.
Big issue: the future for public services
Related articles
Useful link: New Economics Foundation - new mutuality

Public-private partnerships
Where an organisation, such as a council or government department, strikes a deal that allows the private sector to deliver a public service. The term is a catch-all and can cover anything from the building of a private finance initiative hospital to a contract for a business to collect domestic rubbish. Whether this amounts to privatisation continues to be a moot point.
Big issue: public-private partnerships
Useful link: 4ps - public-private partnerships programme

Public sector borrowing requirement (PSBR) or public sector net cash requirements
Renamed the public sector net cash requirements, it sets out the difference between government expenditure and income. Also used to restrict the borrowing of public sector agencies such as local authorities, unlike more flexible accounting conventions in Europe.
See also: general government financial deficit
Related articles
Useful link: office for national statitics - new format for public finances (pdf)

Public service agreements (PSA)
Agreements between local authorities and central government, under which councils are rewarded with extra funding in return for achieving set objectives.
For a full definition see: local public service agreements

Purchaser
Any budget-holding body that buys health or social care services from a provider on behalf of its resident population or service users.

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