Will culling quangos work?
I declare an interest: I sit on three bodies – the Communications Consumer Panel, the Ofcom Advisory Committee for England and the Consumer Focus Board – that are to be abolished under the terms of the Coalition Government’s so-called cull of the quangos which is to be given effect by the Public Bodies Bill that is currently before Parliament.
But, in a report published today by the House of Commons Public Administration Committee, it is argued that the proposals are unlikely to save money or improve accountability while the whole process has been poorly managed.
The report – which you can read here – states:
“The Government did not consult properly on these proposals. When undertaking such a fundamental review of the machinery of government it is desirable and sensible to do so. We welcome that fact the Government is now taking steps to rectify this, but question how useful consultation can be, given that decisions on the future of many bodies have already been taken. Having agreed to amend the Bill to allow for more consultation we expect these consultations to have real effect on the outcome of the review; even if this means reversing decisions that have already been made. We expect the Government to give us such an assurance in its response to this Report.”