David Cameron, our Prime Minister, said in his New Year message:
“I am determined to do the bold things it will take to sort out public services, too. Too often our schools aren't up to scratch, our hospitals aren't always clean enough and our police don't catch criminals. Brilliant and committed people work in public services - but somehow the system stops them doing their job. So we'll change it.”
up to par
Also, up to scratch or snuff or speed or the mark. Satisfactory, up to a given standard, as in She didn't feel up to par today so she stayed home, or I'm sure he'll come up to scratch when the time comes, or She's up to snuff again. Nearly all the versions of this idiom come from sports, par from golf, scratch and mark from boxing (after being knocked down a fighter had eight seconds to make his way to a mark scratched in the center of the ring), and speed from racing. However, the allusion in the variant with snuff, which dates from the early 1800s, has been lost.
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