Feb 2010 05

Quangos back in the news – just4

Amidst all of the revelations on MPs’ expenses, taxpayer funded lobbying, and bungled swine flu preparations, some further news was buried. The Cabinet Office released its annual Public Bodies list, detailing the Government’s version of what they consider to be quangos. Of course, year-on-year funding from Government has increased by nearly £4 billion to £38.4billion. The number of ‘Non-Departmental Public Bodies’ (NDPBs) has gone down from 790 to 766 in the last financial year, according to the Cabinet Office. However in the December 2009 document, Smarter Government, we saw that £80 billion was being spent through 750 ‘Arms Length Bodies’.

The different figures seem to lie in the descriptions of what bodies are: NDPBs, executive agencies and public corporations are just a few of the names given to bodies overseen and/or funded by Government. As we mention in our paper, ACA to YJB: A Guide to the UK’s Semi-Autonomous Public Bodies, an unhelpful debate over these discursive differences means that the figures released by Government are more argued over than they are actually analysed.

Our survey mapped all of the above ‘definitions’ and found more realistic picture of the semi-autonomous sector in the UK: 1,148 bodies were in operation, and were funded to the tune of £90billion. It comprehensively details the spending, funding and staff levels at all of these bodies. Departmental reports do this solely for NDPBs to an extent but the information is often askew from that found in the organisation’s own annual accounts, meaning it can be unreliable.

Our papers on the semi-autonomous sector have discussed in detail the problems with devolving governance to self-interested bodies. Any talk of bonfires, reviews or rationalisation requires some honesty about who they are, what they do and how much they cost; we can no longer afford to duck the issue.

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  • G mORRIS

    Whilst it is good news that a few MP’s are to be tried for fraud,I consider that this is only the tip of the iceberg and that there should be further campaigning to ensure that all those that flipped their homes are equally guilty of committing fraud and need to be charged too.I cannot understand why this is not happening
    G Morris

  • Chris Powell

    These fraud “trials” will be just another waste of time and public money. The defence will be “We just did what the rules told us we could do” and any “evidence” of cheating will never see the light of day, because it will be blanked out, to protect someone’s imagined privacy. Not one of the parties guilty of cheating has suffered any penalties and most have been allowed to wipe the slate clean by offering to repay a portion of what they gained. When did one of “us” ever get away with “it slipped my memory”, even though “we” don’t get a fully funded support staff

  • David Buchan

    Two points further on the MP’s expenses scandal.
    1. Tax inspectors from HMRC should be investigating tax avoided by flipping homes,
    and 2. The cost of the investigation by Legg should be borne by the MPs.
    David Buchan
    Crieff
    Scotland

  • Harry

    MP’s that have submitted dubious tax claims, such as James Arbuthnot claiming for cleaning his swimming pool, should not be allowed to stand for government ever again. Any of the 370 MP’s that have been ordered to repay expense claims, and those that have flipped their homes cannot be trusted and should as such are not in a position to represent the public.
    There should be a campaign to promote this idea before the next election.
    Harry