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Semi-autonomous public bodies (the UK’s ubiquitous ‘quangos’) are
now responsible for a significant proportion of the Government’s work.
Major public services – such as health, education and criminal justice
– are dominated by them, while sectors such as art, sport and
agriculture have become dependent on the financial support which they
dispense.
But who oversees their work? Operating at arms length
from departments and elected ministers, direct political scrutiny of
quangos is limited. In holding quangos to account, taxpayers depend
predominately upon the oversight afforded by non-executive boards and quango Chairs.
In
a concept borrowed from the corporate sector, most quangos are steered
(at least notionally) by a board of non-executive members (i.e. not
part of the executive management team) appointed to represent the
interests of shareholders (in this case taxpayers and ‘stakeholders’).
Meeting typically twice a month, the exact responsibilities of quango
boards varies tremendously, but their primary functions are: to provide
direction and leadership; to hold senior staff to account; and to
represent the work and views of the body to the public that pays for
them.2 Board Chairs often play a role in the executive management of
quangos, working between 1 and 3 days a week, chairing both main and
supplementary committees. They provide advice to senior management and
are often the public face of the organisation.
But who are
non-executive board members? Perhaps more importantly, what type of
people become quango Chairs? What motivates these members of the public
to sit on a board, and do they have the taxpayers’ interests at heart,
or the quango's?
For details, download the research note here (PDF).
Key findings of this research note are:
- 1,620 public appointments (and reappointments) to non-advisory quangos and NHS bodies in England and Wales were made in 2008-09.
- Non-executive board appointments in 2008-09 covered approximately 9 per cent of the 18,500 (plus) public sector (appointed) positions.
- 10.2 per cent of all appointments (and reappointments) in 2008-09 declared a political activity. 5.5 per cent reported to be active Labour Party supporters, 2.1 per cent Conservative and 1 per cent Liberal Democrat.
- The political activity of public appointments appears to correspond
with the party in power; in 1996-97 5.9 per cent of all board
appointees declared political activity on behalf of the Conservative
party, compared to 3.3 for Labour. However over the past 13 years
public appointments have been dominated by Labour supporters.
- No data was available for the political activity of Chairs after 2005-06. But in 2005-06 17 per cent of Chair appointments declared political activity, significantly above the level for general public appointments; 13.4 per cent declared an affiliation with Labour, compared to 1.6 for the Conservatives.
For details, download the research note here (PDF).
Ben Farrugia, Deputy Research Director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:
“Quangos
now control a wide range of public activities, involving billions of
taxpayers’ money. But they remain unaccountable and distant from the
public that pays. The Chairs and non-executive directors of quangos
should work to protect taxpayers' interests, but there are serious
concerns about their suitability to do that job. Our study suggests
that instead of serving taxpayers' interests, some non-executive
members and Chairs may put their quango’s interests first. Many senior
figures are career quangocrats, moving from one quango to another. With
a pressing need to save money by cutting quangos back, these
individuals could be a serious barrier to any Government hoping to save
money. Serious action needs to be taken to increase democratic control
over quangos, so that they are genuinely accountable to ordinary
people.”
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