By Richard Staines
15 July 2010
Cutting the cost of quangos cannot be achieved simply by cutting their numbers, a think-tank said today.
According to an Institute for Government report, Read before burning, 75% of the money spent on quangos is tied up in just 15 bodies and seven executive agencies employ more than three-quarters of quango staff.
In last month’s emergency Budget, the government pledged to produce savings of £500m by cutting the number of quangos. The institute said that quango mergers could produce benefits. However, such a strategy cost more than £750m over the four years to 2009.
It warned that a lack of clarity over roles and responsibilities could lead to duplication of activity between quangos and sponsor departments.
The July 15 report also criticised the government’s variation in scrutiny. Some quangos have been micro-managed, while some have been neglected – both of which contribute to poor performance.
The institute makes ten recommendations to ensure any newly created quangos are trusted by the public and function efficiently. These include: stronger oversight; performance benchmarking by the National Audit Office; reviews every three to five years; and the publication of a complete list of all quangos.
The institute has identified 934 quangos – but added there was an ‘unknown number’ of others that the government had not classified.
The Treasury estimates they cost around £80bn a year, accounting for around 13% of the government’s total expenditure. Of these bodies, Jobcentre Plus is the largest employer, with almost 70,000 full-time equivalent staff. The Prison Service is the second largest, employing 50,000 staff.The top seven employ 78% of all quango staff between them.
Sir Ian Magee, who has headed both the Courts Service and the Information Technology Services Agency, co-authored the report.
He told Public Finance: ‘We are certainly not saying that [quangos] should be continuing in their present form.’
He said the government must think about the way it wants to cut quangos, and how to ‘subject them to independent parliamentary scrutiny’.
The review presented an opportunity to help restore the public’s trust and confidence in this important part of government, he added.
Christopher Banks, chair of the Public Chairs’ Forum, said: ‘Anything that helps us to reduce complexity and increase clarity is very welcome.’
Quangos already earmarked for abolition include regional development agencies, the Infrastructure Planning Commission and the Qualifications & Curriculum Development Agency.
15 July 2010
Cutting the cost of quangos cannot be achieved simply by cutting their numbers, a think-tank said today.
According to an Institute for Government report, Read before burning, 75% of the money spent on quangos is tied up in just 15 bodies and seven executive agencies employ more than three-quarters of quango staff.
In last month’s emergency Budget, the government pledged to produce savings of £500m by cutting the number of quangos. The institute said that quango mergers could produce benefits. However, such a strategy cost more than £750m over the four years to 2009.
It warned that a lack of clarity over roles and responsibilities could lead to duplication of activity between quangos and sponsor departments.
The July 15 report also criticised the government’s variation in scrutiny. Some quangos have been micro-managed, while some have been neglected – both of which contribute to poor performance.
The institute makes ten recommendations to ensure any newly created quangos are trusted by the public and function efficiently. These include: stronger oversight; performance benchmarking by the National Audit Office; reviews every three to five years; and the publication of a complete list of all quangos.
The institute has identified 934 quangos – but added there was an ‘unknown number’ of others that the government had not classified.
The Treasury estimates they cost around £80bn a year, accounting for around 13% of the government’s total expenditure. Of these bodies, Jobcentre Plus is the largest employer, with almost 70,000 full-time equivalent staff. The Prison Service is the second largest, employing 50,000 staff.The top seven employ 78% of all quango staff between them.
Sir Ian Magee, who has headed both the Courts Service and the Information Technology Services Agency, co-authored the report.
He told Public Finance: ‘We are certainly not saying that [quangos] should be continuing in their present form.’
He said the government must think about the way it wants to cut quangos, and how to ‘subject them to independent parliamentary scrutiny’.
The review presented an opportunity to help restore the public’s trust and confidence in this important part of government, he added.
Christopher Banks, chair of the Public Chairs’ Forum, said: ‘Anything that helps us to reduce complexity and increase clarity is very welcome.’
Quangos already earmarked for abolition include regional development agencies, the Infrastructure Planning Commission and the Qualifications & Curriculum Development Agency.
