First major revamp of Xbox since 2005 integrates TV, internet and gaming in what Microsoft describes as ’rocket-science stuff’Microsoft revealed a new Xbox console on Tuesday that not only integrates TV, internet and gaming, but also will measure your heartbeat and recognise your voice.The company said the Xbox One will revolutionise its users’ lifestyles by integrating the cloud, voice control and gesture technology into a simple, intuitive machine."It changes everything," Marc Whitten, an Xbox executive, told a packed hall of technology journalists at the company’s campus in Redmond, Washington. "This is rocket-science stuff."At the hour-long event in Richmond, Washington, Microsoft unveiled an ambitious vision for the new Xbox. It remains a games machine at heart, but Microsoft’s broader aim was clear: to make the Xbox an all-in-one entertainment solution, funneling live TV, video-on-demand and web chat, and allowing users to swiftly and easily move between all three. The integration with television goes deep: Microsoft announced a deal with the NFL to integrate coverage of the sport with game-like elements such as a Fantasy Football app, allowing viewers to manage their own fantasy sides while watching the real thing in action. The announcement that Stephen Spiellberg will be producing a TV series based on the best-selling Halo games, exclusively avalable on Xbox One, indicates Microsoft sees itself as a content maker as well as a platform provider.Analysts who had wondered whether the company could follow up on the success of its Xbox 360, first unveiled in 2005, said its successor offered a complete entertainment system designed for the family."The Xbox One really looks to advance the state of video game technology and entertainment in a way that we haven’t seen before," said Brian Blau, a director of Gartner Research."The Xbox One is a real advancement, one that will transform the way we experience TV, games, music, movies and more. From what we can see so far Microsoft has met and far exceeded expectations for the Xbox One. This is Microsoft branching out into the living room to reach more of a family audience rather than a core gaming audience."Fred Huet, a managing partner at Greenwich Consulting, said Microsoft had thrown down the gauntlet to Sony’s PlayStation and other rivals. "The Xbox One is set to mark the beginning of a new generation of games, TV and entertainment."The Xbox One, which will be available from the end of the year, will be powered by 300,000 servers, more than the entire world’s computing power in 1999, said Whitten.An improved, ultra-sensitive Kinect sensor will track wrist and shoulder rotations and be able to read users’ heartbeats. Its main camera can record 1080P RGB video at 30 frames per second.Microsoft executive Yusuf Mehdi wowed the audience by calling out commands and using minimal hand gestures to manipulate content on the Xbox One. He said “a new set of universal gestures to control your TV” would banish the fumbling confusion many feel with existing remotes. TechCruch called it a “massive, massive upgrade” from the original model.A “snap mode” similar to Microsoft Windows 8 experience allows users to run two activities ? such as watching TV and browsing the internet, or using Skype ? simultaneously. It offers a second screen.The Xbox One has 8GB of Ram, along with a Blu-ray drive, 64-bit architecture and a 500GB onboard hard drive. Microsoft also unveiled a new version of its camera-based Kinect system with better motion and voice detection. It showed how users can watch live sports on TV while getting updates on fantasy leagues on a split screen. In an effort to stay ahead of rivals, Microsoft said new content for the popular Call of Duty game can be downloaded on the Xbox One before any other system.But Microsoft gave little detail on games, apart from glimpses of EA’s Fifa and Madden stalwarts, some shiny cars in Forza Motorsport 5 and a confusing glance at Quantum Break, a futuristic action adventure that appears to mix televisual sequences with gameplay.Microsoft said more games would be shown at next month’s E3 video games conference in Los Angeles.The previous model, the Xbox 360, was launched eight years ago, and has been the leading games console for the past two years. Xbox Games United States Computing Gadgets Rory Carroll Keith Stuart guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Prime minister sends personal note saying he would never work with anyone who ’sneered’ at activists Steve Bell Auction of tomes scribbled upon and annotated by their authors raises total of £440,000 for English Pen writers’ associationA first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, with author JK Rowling’s notes and original illustrations , was sold for £150,000 at auction in London.The book, which was auctioned by Sotheby’s at a charity sale in aid of the English Pen writers’ association , was purchased by an anonymous bidder by telephone.The annotations by Rowling include comments on the process of writing and a section from an early draft of the novel, along with a number of illustrations drawn by her and a note on how she came to invent Quidditch, a sport played by characters in the books.She and others had been asked to “scribble second thoughts, marginalia or drawings” on a first edition copy of one of their books for the event, which raised £439,200 in total.A copy of Roald Dahl’s bestselling children’s book Matilda, containing new drawings by illustrator Quentin Blake, fetched £30,000, while an annotated copy of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel The Remains of the Day went for £18,000.In other lots, a copy of Julian Barnes’s Metroland sold for £14,000, a copy of Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader fetched £11,000 and a copy of Seamus Heaney’s Death of a Naturalist was bought for £17,000. A copy of Colm Tóibín’s The Heather Blazing was sold for £15,500.The event was attended by a number of authors whose works were featured, including Toibin, Helen Fielding, Jeanette Winterson, Frederick Forsyth, Ben Okri, Margaret Drabble, Andrea Levy, David Lodge, John Banville, Justin Cartwright and Wendy Cope.Rick Gekoski, a rare book dealer and trustee of English Pen, curated the collection of annotated first editions for the sale.He said: “This is a triumphant conclusion to a wonderful project, which has involved the hard work and good will of so many people. I am sure that the buyers of the individual books will be thrilled with their purchases.” JK Rowling Harry Potter Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds ? Spaniard makes risque comment to Golf Channel ? Woods and García fell out at Sawgrass this monthSergio García’s ongoing spat with Tiger Woods took an unwelcome turn night, when the Spaniard made what could be interpreted as a racist remark about his opponent.The Spaniard was on stage at the European Tour’s gala players’ awards dinner, where he was questioned by the Golf Channel’s Steve Sands. García, who has been embroiled in verbal battles with Woods since the Players Championship at Sawgrass this month, was asked in jest if he would have the American round for dinner one night during the upcoming US Open. “We will have him round every night,” García said. "We will serve fried chicken."The statement was similar to Fuzzy Zoeller’s infamous remark towards Woods in 1997. Then, after Woods won his first major, the Masters, which entitled him to choose the champions’ dinner menu for the following year, Zoeller said: “You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not serve fried chicken next year. Got it? Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve.” Zoeller later apologised and said he had been misconstrued.García left last night before he could be asked to clarify his remarks, but later issued a statment through the European Tour, saying: "I apologise for any offence that may have been caused by my comment on stage during The European Tour Players’ Awards dinner. I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner."Earlier in the day he had earlier been pressed on his relationship ? or lack of one ? with the world No1 when previewing the PGA Championship. “I mean, you can’t like everybody,” the Spaniard said. "I think that there’s people that you connect with and there’s people that you don’t. You know, it’s pretty much as simple as that. I think that he doesn’t need me in his life, I don’t need him in mine, and let’s move on and keep doing what we’re doing."When asked when this problem first came to light, García replied: "A while back. It’s never really been like a true connection like I would have maybe with Luke Donald or Lee Westwood or Adam Scott or some of the other guys that I get along with well."Paul McGinley, who will lead Europe into the 2014 Ryder Cup, used the Surrey course as the venue to announce he is increasing the captain’s wildcard picks from two to three . The leading four players from the European Tour’s order of merit and five from the world rankings list will gain automatic entry for the event, to be held at Gleneagles. “I feel like by giving myself an extra pick, it’s a little bit of wriggle room,” McGinley explained."Like it or not, we have to acknowledge the fact that most of the players are now based in America, playing on the PGA Tour. I think in the big scheme of things this is actually going to help the European Tour more because I am going to be watching very closely for those three picks."Guys who are not in the top 50 in the world, who show a bit of form on the European Tour, they are going to rank very highly with the possible opportunity of a pick."Ideally, I would love to be able to say I want 12 players off the European Order of Merit. But I know that’s not practical or realistic and I know I wouldn’t have a strong enough team to win the Ryder Cup. At the end of the day, my head will fall; it’s on me and it is my decision." Golf Tiger Woods Ewan Murray guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Study shows role of non-NHS providers in delivering NHS-funded care in England has increased dramaticallySpending on private services by the NHS reached a record £8.7bn last year, a jump of more than £3bn since 2006, according to research.A study by the Nuffield Trust and the Institute of Fiscal Studies reveals that the role of non-NHS providers in delivering NHS-funded care in England has increased dramatically from 2006, with the result that in certain areas of healthcare the independent sector is now a fixture in the NHS.The report gives as an example the proportion of hip and knee replacements delivered by private companies and funded by the NHS, which rose from “negligible” in 2003 to a fifth of all such operations today.The report says choice and competition were embedded into the NHS in 2008 with a significant effect on local hospitals. It says a study last year into three key elective procedures ? including hernia operations and hip replacements ? found that “there has been a rapid rise in the share of NHS-funded patients treated by private providers, matched by a corresponding fall in the proportion of patients treated by their nearest NHS acute trust”.Spending varied across the regions. In Yorkshire and Humberside, almost 10% of all NHS funds were being used to pay private companies for patient treatment. In the north-east the figure was 4%.The extra cash has helped to protect private healthcare providers from the economic downturn. The report says the revenues of private hospitals over the past five years would have been lower without demand from the NHS ? especially given that between 2008 and 2011 private spending on health fell by almost 6% in real terms.While Labour continued to lavish cash on the NHS ? public spending on healthcare in the UK increased in both 2008 and 2009 ? the authors say the economic crisis has introduced cuts into the health service. Despite coalition promises to ringfence the NHS budget, the report says spending on health “fell in real terms by 0.7% in 2010 and a further 1.2% in 2011”.Anita Charlesworth, Nuffield Trust chief economist and an author of the report, said it was an open question as to whether public funding of the private sector could continue growing. The government’s policy is to extend “market reforms” into new parts of the health service."Whether spending on private providers will continue to increase as NHS spending is essentially frozen is less clear," Charlesworth said. "There is a need to monitor whether the planned extension of choice into community services leads to an increased involvement of the voluntary sector or whether in response the private sector providers also expand into this area."A Department of Health spokesperson said: "The government is meeting its promise to deliver a real-terms increase in health spending. Health spending will increase by 1% in real terms this year compared to last year and 0.5% compared to 2009-10."It’s right that patients should get the best service, regardless of who provides it. Charities, social enterprises and independent providers play an important part in providing NHS care, and have done for many years, helping give patients more choice of where and how they are treated." NHS Health Randeep Ramesh guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds ? French racing says delays relate to ’medical issues’ ? Jockey hopes to regain licence in time for the DerbyFrankie Dettori’s comeback appeared in jeopardy once more on Tuesday night as the ruling body of French racing signalled that it had concerns relating to a “medical issue” over the jockey’s fitness to resume his career.It emerged that the issue could be related to a Racing Post report that Dettori had asked France Galop for a B sample to be checked from a recent test, which would normally indicate that the A sample had shown up irregularities in some way. The Post claimed that “irregularities” had been discovered in the relevant A sample and that it was expected to take seven to 10 days before the result of the B sample was known.Dettori has been tested repeatedly by both France Galop and the British Horseracing Authority in the past month as his ban neared its end. Dettori’s solicitor, Christopher Stewart-Moore, was quoted as saying: "He has undergone 15 tests [in Britain] and passed them all and we know that Dr Turner [of the BHA] is satisfied Frankie is entitled to continue to be licensed."Under strict French rules, a jockey would be in breach if found to be positive for many over-the-counter medications, including aspirin. “We’re waiting for him to get back to us over medical issues,” said Julien Pescatore, communications director at France Galop. He was said to have described it as “a private matter”.Stewart-Moore echoed that sentiment, saying: "We are in correspondence with France Galop about this and it is a private matter."No further elaboration has been offered by either side, but there have been widespread suggestions over the past four days that the French body’s delay related to a sample taken from Dettori in the week of 22 April. Neither the jockey nor his agents returned phone calls on Tuesday night.Dettori’s six-month worldwide ban, following a positive test for cocaine while riding in France, ended on Sunday and he was expected to be riding again on Monday night. But he has still not managed to persuade officials to give him the green light and a resolution appears to be at least another week away.Those close to Dettori must hope that the present glitch relates to something at a trivial level, in which case he might yet hope to regain his licence to ride in time for the Derby, when it is expected he will be given the leg-up on one of the many contenders trained by Aidan O’Brien.Stewart-Moore has spoken of the jockey having “a number of riding commitments, some in the coming days being of particular interest”. The lawyer’s ire in recent days has been directed at the BHA and he has threatened to take it to the high court in an effort to make it approve Dettori’s credentials. That threat appeared to carry little weight on Tuesday at the BHA, whose spokesman, Robin Mounsey, said: "We can’t process his licence until we’ve got the approval and sign-off from the French authorities. That was always there as one of the conditions."The only way we could consider [licensing Dettori] is if we get the information as to why there’s been a delay. That then leaves the possibility that we can make an informed decision as to whether it affects us. But until we get either of those things, the situation remains the same."Earlier, Pescatore complained about media coverage of the issue in Britain, where some commentators have laid the blame for the delay at the door of France Galop. “I have read that we are blocking him. We are not blocking anything,” he said.There have been suggestions that while France Galop is presently refusing to pass Dettori as fit to ride in France, its officials would be sanguine about him being granted a licence to ride in Britain, but Pescatore would not confirm that. “We don’t have to comment on what happens in Britain,” he said.Dettori gave a confessional interview to Channel 4 in which he said of September’s positive test for cocaine: “I’m very ashamed and embarrassed, and paid a very big price for it, you know. I spent six months not doing the thing that I love, racing.” Frankie Dettori Horse racing Drugs in sport Chris Cook guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Charity says governments are losing more than £99bn a year in revenue and calls for tougher action against tax havensLost tax revenue from money salted away offshore is costing governments more than $150bn (£99bn) a year, Oxfam has found ? enough to eliminate extreme poverty across the globe twice over.The charity said it was time for David Cameron to put words into action by taking tougher action against UK-linked tax havens.It urged the prime minister to agree an international deal that would end secrecy and allow developing countries to recover the billions of pounds they were owed.According to Oxfam’s estimates, almost $18.5tn is being held for individuals in tax havens, one third of it in British Overseas Territories and crown dependencies.The charity said that even on conservative assumptions, the $18.5tn would yield $156bn to tax authorities around the world, whilst the cost of providing every person on earth with an income of $1.25 a day would be $66bn.Emma Seery, Oxfam’s Head of Development Finance and Public Services, said: "These figures put the UK at the centre of a global tax system that is a colossal betrayal of people here and in the poorest countries who are struggling to get by, and they put the government on the side of the privileged few. If they want to get on the right side of this debate, now is the time to take action."Britain’s credibility is on the line; talking tough on tax, whilst continuing to usher a third of the world’s wealth into UK tax havens, risks making a mockery of David Cameron’s leadership at the G8 Summit in June."A Treasury spokeswoman said: "The Government strongly supports tax capacity building in developing countries and announced extra support in this year’s budget."As the prime minister said in his recent letter to the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, we want to ensure information exchange works effectively for both developed and developing countries. That is why we strongly support the multilateral convention on mutual assistance in tax matters which will assist information exchange with those developing countries that join the convention."Cameron will use a meeting of the European Council on Tuesday to push Luxembourg and Austria to drop their opposition to exchanging information about savings.The need to tackle tax havens is also going to be one of the main topics on the agenda at next month’s G8 summit in Northern Ireland.Britain will be pressing for more transparency on who owns companies domiciled in tax havens, with the aim of raising more revenue.Seery said: "David Cameron and [Chancellor] George Osborne continue to tour the world making promises to clamp down on tax havens, but so far they’ve done absolutely nothing to make tax deals work for poor countries."The UK and Europe cannot stand by and watch more people fall victim to the bite of austerity while billions are lost from the public purse on their watch."Unless the EU agrees a tax havens black list and clear sanctions, we’ll get little more than hot air from leaders." Tax avoidance Tax and spending Corporate governance Charities Poverty Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Secondary school that promises to do away with traditional classroom lessons is among new tranche to open next yearAn unorthodox secondary school offering “cross-subject projects” rather than traditional classroom lessons, is among the latest tranche of free schools to be approved. XP school in Doncaster is one of the 102 new free schools given the go-ahead to open next year by Michael Gove, the education secretary, a slight decrease on the 109 schools opening this year.XP’s prospective headteacher, Gwyn ap Harri ? a former computer science teacher who went on to start a company selling educational software ? says the school’s teaching method is based on how learning takes places in the “real world”, rather than sitting behind desks."We’ll be still be teaching the national curriculum, the kids will still be doing GCSEs and A-levels. But the way we deliver the curriculum will be totally different," Harri said."If you want, for instance, an investigation into the wildlife in your back garden, there are loads and loads of different subjects you can cover within that. You can do maths in terms of the size of the garden, how many samples you can find, what percentage that is," he said. "Then there’s the history of the place, the geography, biology, that sort of thing. So you can learn through a really wide project or expedition."XP will be unorthodox in other ways too. Admission will be by city-wide lottery, while class sizes will be kept to a tiny 25 pupils, with teachers expected to multitask across subjects. “Teachers want to teach this way,” said Harri. "They don’t want to just teach GCSE music, they also want to teach art or PE or whatever their passion is."Announcing the names of the majority of the 102 approved schools, Gove said: "There are many innovators in local communities set on raising standards of education for their children. I am delighted to approve so many of their high-quality plans to open a free school."Of the 102 new free schools, more than half are in London (46) and the south-east (11). XP will be one of just nine in Yorkshire and Humber, with 13 in the Midlands and three in the south-west of England.Kevin Brennan, Labour’s shadow schools minister, accused the government of “ignoring the crisis in primary places” and setting up schools where there was already a surplus of places."Their damaging focus on their own pet projects is failing to put our children first," Brennan said.The National Union of Teachers general secretary, Christine Blower, said the free schools risked squandering resources. The NUT’s analysis claims that the department for education (DfE) has already spent more than £200m on free schools."It is time for the government to change tack and allow local authorities to open new schools in areas where there is a genuine need for new places," she said.According to the DfE’s figures, the new schools will eventually offer 130,000 places. Fifteen of them will be designated faith schools, able to select a maximum of 50% of pupils on the basis of religion. One will be the Seva school in Coventry, a co-educational Sikh school for four- to 16-year-olds.Among the new schools will be the Family school in London, for children with complex psychological, family and mental-health problems, and two schools under the aegis of the National Autistic Society, in east Cheshire and Lambeth.In Doncaster, the response from prospective parents for XP’s unorthodox teaching style has been “really good” according to Harri, with expressions of interest far outstripping its initial intake."When you sit down and explain to parents what we are doing, it sounds straightforward, it sounds like common sense. And it makes traditional schools sound a bit crazy," Harri said."You won’t just learn about bees and why bees are disappearing. You’ll make beehives and install them in a local park. We’ll have a really strong connection to the community. A massive part of the motivation for the kids to succeed [is that] they will exhibit to the authentic audience, to adults in the real world, rather than doing work that goes into a folder and never gets seen again."Now XP has been approved, the Education Funding Authority will begin looking for a suitable site. Because it will use a lottery for admissions, Harri said his only concern was that the new school has good transport links.Harri said he was inspired by a visit to a school in San Diego, High Tech High, which teaches using similar methods, and schools in New England.After becoming frustrated as a teacher Harri said he created some software to improve teaching ? sold through a company named realsmart, which offers licenses for £4,995 ? and then thought the technology needed a school to model the techniques. XP will use realsmart’s software. “It’s the only way we can do it,” said Harri. Free schools Teaching Education policy Michael Gove Doncaster Richard Adams guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Lib Dem leader is likely to infuriate Conservative rebels with speech insisting coalition will last until 2015Nick Clegg will infuriate David Cameron’s restive backbenchers on Wednesday by insisting he will not allow the coalition to be broken up early and telling them it is time to get back to governing from the centre, and end the game-playing at Westminster.His reading of the riot act to the Tory right is likely to be seen as the kind of slap-down to Cameron’s rebels that the prime minister himself feels too weak to administer because of the advance of Ukip.The deputy prime minister will accuse Tory MPs of “disappearing into a parliamentary rabbit warren, obsessing over this new tactic or that new trick: paving legislation, enabling referendums, wrecking amendments”.After two weeks of Conservative battles over a European referendum and gay marriage , Clegg will also admit that the past fortnight has seen the coalition lacking leadership, focus and an ability to govern.On Tuesday night 133 Conservative MPs, among them the environment secretary Owen Paterson and the Welsh secretary David Jones, voted on a free vote against the coalition’s legislation to legalise gay marriage.Clegg’s speech was shown to Conservative leaders on Tuesday night in advance, but in reality there was little Cameron could do to stop Clegg portraying his party as the adult, if junior, partner in the coalition relationship. He will insist the behaviour of the Tory right will have left the public bewildered, but will argue that he will not allow the coalition to be distracted from its main task of fixing the economy.Clegg’s decision to lecture the Tory backbenchers and guarantee that the coalition will last until the general election in 2015 will infuriate the Tory rightwingers trying to engineer a break-up.At the weekend Cameron speculated for the first time about the possibility of an early coalition break-up, but stressed this was not the aim, or his expectation. There have also been claims that No 10 is preparing contingency plans for an early break-up.But at a hastily convened London press conference Clegg will defend the radicalism of the coalition, adding: "It still has work to do, and the best way for us to serve and improve Britain is by finishing what we started. To those voices who say that it will be in either, or both, parties’ interests to prematurely pull the plug: I couldn’t disagree more."In 2010 the British people dealt us this hand. And they will not forgive either party if we call time ahead of the election that has been legislated for in 2015 ? destabilising the nation in the vague hope of short-term political gain."He will also express his exasperation that at the point at which the country is facing the “most profound economic challenge in living memory”, parliament is being clogged up by issues such as Europe and gay rights “simply because they cause the biggest political punch-ups”.The public will think MPs have taken leave of their senses, he will say.Clegg’s remarks may also frustrate to a lesser extent those Liberal Democrats warning that the party risks losing its identity if it does not do something dramatic to distance itself from a rightward-leaning Conservative party.Clegg will contend there is no logic to ducking out early before the election, adding: "It is a nonsense to think such a move could suddenly win back those people who have never liked us going into government with the Conservatives."But Clegg will hint that the Lib Dems may be suffering collateral damage due to Tory in-fighting distracting from the coalition’s reform agenda. He will say: "Sincere policy debates and ideological differences are, and will continue to be, a part of coalition. But the parliamentary game-playing we’ve seen over the last few weeks discredits the importance of these issues, and it’s an unwelcome distraction."The two parties remain “two staunch opponents, working together to find answers to the most critical questions facing Britain today, pioneering major reforms that will stand the test of time”.But faced by a Conservative party that seems to feel forced to head to the right in the face of the threat posed by Ukip, he will insist that, so long as he remains deputy prime minister, the government as a whole will not vacate the centre ground. Claiming Ed Miliband sees a new centre ground taking shape on the left, he will say: "Some Conservatives insist the centre of gravity has swung the other way. They seize on people’s reasonable concerns over things like immigration and welfare as proof the nation has shifted to the right. Yet in reality millions of people across Britain continue to shun the extremes of left."He will admit that as the election nears there will be further tensions between the parties, and both leaders will be under increasing pressure to act in their parties’ interests as opposed to the national interest.Clegg feels that the Conservatives have never reconciled themselves properly to the concept of coalition, partly because they were so sure they were going to win outright, and partly because the coalition deal was never put to any democratic forum of the Conservative party.He will remind Tory MPs: “Whether you are the larger or smaller party, the fact is governing together in the public interest carries a cost. Making compromises; doing things you find uncomfortable; challenging some of your traditional support ? these are the dilemmas the Conservatives are coming to terms with, just as my party has had to.” Nick Clegg Liberal-Conservative coalition Conservatives Liberal Democrats Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Tax officials set to miss spending review target by £5bn because of ’extremely poor’ performance, says Commons committeeA £5bn hole in the public purse has been caused by the failure of HM Revenue and Customs to clamp down effectively on fraud and error, MPs warn on Wednesday.The House of Commons public accounts committee has concluded that tax officials will achieve less than half the projected possible savings from reducing fraud and error in the payment of tax credits.Their criticisms come in a damning report after a torrid week for HMRC officials, who were taken to task by the committee for failing to gather evidence from whistleblowers about Google’s sales activities in the UK.Margaret Hodge, the committee’s chair, said MPs had been baffled by the Revenue’s failure to clamp down on fraudulent activity and mistakes. “HMRC’s performance in cutting the level of fraud and error in the tax credits system has been hugely disappointing and extremely poor. In these strained times, the government cannot afford these failures,” she said.The credits, which cost taxpayers £30bn a year, are based on the number of hours a claimant works. They are paid to about 6 million families.The 2010 spending review set HMRC a target of saving £8bn by 2015, but the committee believes it may miss its goal by £5bn.In 2010-11 alone, HMRC lost £2.3bn to error and fraud ? £850m more than expected ? with one in five awards of tax credits thought to have resulted in overpayment. The following year, officials had written off £1.7bn in tax credit debts as uncollectable.Although the committee said the HMRC had increased checks on individuals from 123,000 to almost 2m, it had resulted in only a doubling of the money saved. “HMRC needs a better understanding of its performance as it hugely overestimated its progress in tackling error and fraud,” the committee added.An HMRC spokesman said officials had boosted targeted checks on tax credit claims by 10 times over the past four years, more than doubling the money protected, saving £390m in three key risk areas.He said: "Work with the private sector has improved the data we use to make sure claimants’ information is accurate and fraudulent claims identified. We are also getting tougher with claimants about the proof they need to support their claims, for example on childcare costs and on school leavers."From 2014 the new Real Time Information system will provide accurate and up-to-date information for tax credit claims, significantly reducing fraud and error. We will continue to improve the service and quality of information we provide, while clamping down on the minority who seek to abuse the rules." HMRC Tax and spending Margaret Hodge Spending review 2010 Rajeev Syal guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds