23 July 2004
Wales has embarked on a quango cull after the Assembly decided to bring in-house three of the country's biggest public sector bodies.
Hailing 'the end of quango-land', First Minister Rhodri Morgan announced that ministers would take direct control of the Welsh Development Agency, the Wales Tourist Board and Elwa, the education funding body.
'The landscape of the public sector will be fundamentally changed,' said Morgan. 'The people of Wales will be able to see that quango-land is starting to come to an end with this statement.'
Between them the three bodies account for some 1,600 staff – around two-thirds of all quango employees in Wales – and a combined annual expenditure of £920m.
Back-office functions such as IT and procurement will be merged when the Welsh Assembly consumes the quangos in spring 2006.
Getting rid of the three bodies could be just the beginning: other quangos could also become directly accountable to ministers. Further work would be done, said Morgan, to see whether other organisations would go the same way.
The first minister said there were no plans to axe jobs, but Peter Harris, national officer of the Public and Commercial Services union in Wales, said his members were 'very worried' about the future.
Ieuan Wyn Jones, leader of Plaid Cymru, said he backed the move but claimed Morgan had previously supported quangos. He accused him of having a 'bus ticket to Damascus in his top pocket'.
PFjul2004
