In a written statement today, Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock said the number of public bodies had been cut by one third since 2010.
Under the 2010-15 Public Bodies Reform programme, more than 190 quangos were abolished and over 165 merged into fewer than 70.
These changes reduced administrative spend by a cumulative £3bn over the life of the programme, more than the initial target of £2.6bn, Hancock wrote.
The government will now extend the review programme to ensure the functions of executive agencies and non-ministerial departments are reviewed at least once in every parliament to ensure efficiency.
Hancock said “the journey to reform and reorganise our public bodies has only just begun”.
He added: “We laid the foundations in the last Parliament but new reviews will take a fresh look at improving services and delivering real value for money for taxpayers.”
An expanded programme of reviews would replace piecemeal examination of individual arms-length bodies with a systemic review of possible mergers or collaborations.
There would be both functional reviews across departments to look at options for efficiency, and then tailored reviews for any bodies not included in the initial appraisal or those that may require a more in-depth review.
Responding to the publication, Chris Banks, chair of the Public Chairs’ Forum, which aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of quangos, said the Public Bodies 2015 review contains useful management information on the diverse arm’s-length body landscape.
“We look forward to working in partnership with the government in the next phase of strategy and to the greater opportunities for leadership that public bodies will be given,” he added.
