Normally Mr Hague sensibly raises his second issue later on during question time but yesterday he fired all his ammunition at

Normally Mr Hague sensibly raises his second issue later on during question time but yesterday he fired all his ammunition at once in a scatter-gun approach. Mr Hague retorted that Mr Blair always had to blame someone else.But he then made a misjudgement by weaving the events surrounding the recent scandals and resignations into the same batch of questions. True or not, while this tactic may one day eventually run its course, it still plays well for the moment with Labour MPs. The opportunity was now presented for the Prime Minister to reveal details of his secret, Princess of Wales-style visit to an accident and emergency unit the previous evening. At first hand, he said, he was told of the shortage of nurses and lack of investment, which he blamed on the Tories' record. Adopting the tactic of Margaret Thatcher, he splattered endless statistics around the Chamber in an enthusiastic, confident, manner.It took him no time at all to say any current shortcomings were the result of the Tory years of NHS mismanagement. He could not see Mr Blair looking irritated and impatient as he bored on, telling the Prime Minister how marvellous the New Deal and the latest unemployment figures were. A momentarily hushed House then waited for Mr Hague, who wondered if Mr Blair regretted Frank Dobson's comments in autumn that the NHS could face the possibility of the winter with confidence.The question fell flat and Mr Blair looked relieved and relaxed at the mere mention of the word "health".

Both sides fielded a full turn- out and a tanned but tense Prime Minister waited anxiously for Mr Hague's opening salvo. First, though, Mr Blair had to endure the nightmare of Jim Dobbin (Lab, Heywood & Middleton) droning on about the sense of occasion he felt at "asking the first question in the last year of this millennium - I feel very important". Radical reform was needed, the MPs said, adding: "We consider that the problems of collaboration between health and social services will not be properly resolved until there is an integrated health and social care system.". THE PAST three weeks of Labour in-fighting and turmoil should have been the perfect backcloth for a nuclear attack by William Hague against the Prime Minister.

But, like many an over-hyped advance billing, the expected grudge match failed to materialise. The pre-planned soundbites drafted by Mr Hague may have looked good on paper but they failed to deliver the knock-out blow Tories were hoping for Methinks he had prepared too much. One stroke victim received no help at home for six months after leaving hospital - because she did not know who to ask. Terminal cancer victims who left hospitals to die sometimes had to wait almost a month before their needs were assessed. The Commons Select Committee on Health condemned the present system under which the NHS provides healthcare while local councils look after social services.

"Responsibilities are blurred, professionals face unnecessary problems and users and carers are suffering because of barriers created by structural division which is based on an ill-defined and arguably non- existent boundary," the MPs said. The committee found evidence that people coming out of hospital faced a "constant battle" to find out what social service care was available. THE PROVISION of care to patients with both health and social needs is confused, inadequate and riven with inconsistencies, a committee of MPs reported yesterday. pounds 100m was being directed into improving fraud prevention for local authorities. The total amount of money saved by local authority fraud investigation units in 1997-98 was pounds 342m, with the majority of town halls saving nearly pounds 2m each on average.The National Audit Office reported this week that there was "no evidence of any improvement" in stemming the losses from benefit fraud suffered by councils..

"Since I arrived at the DSS, I have ended the `money for nothing' culture. The new system of housing benefit fraud targets produces real fraud savings not fictional ones. In the next few weeks I shall be making a major announcement on my anti-fraud strategy."A spokeswoman for the DSS said that the changes had been introduced after claims that some councils had been over-claiming the level of fraud in their area. This circular is a politically motivated sleight of hand to save the department millions," he said.Mr Duncan Smith claimedthat the Social Security minister Angela Eagle had misled the House of Commons on Monday when she denied that anti-fraud strategies had been watered down.Alistair Darling, the Secretary of State for Social Security, denied the Tory charges last night. Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative social security spokesman, said that the DSS change was an "outrageous" example of the Government watering down the campaign against fraud."We always worried that Labour was soft on benefit crime and this proves it. Anti-fraud units across the UK claim the new system penalises them and could result in job losses or rises in council tax.Senior Tories are set to raise the issue in the Commons today, when they will claim the circular proves that ministerial rhetoric on tackling fraud is not matched by reality.