Review these Quangos

There is confusion over just how Government spends on Quangos. The official total is £38.36 billion. But the definition applied is not consistent across Government Departments. Some bodies that look like a Quango and sound like a Quango escape listing by being technically independent.  This provisional list proposes potential savings of £27.68 billion on Quango spending. Some of the Quangos that could be abolished may be merely a waste of money, others are could be actually harmful. Some that offer benefits may not represent value for money or may extend beyond the remit of what the state should be doing.

The real savings would be higher. Lots of civil servants time is spent monitoring and liaising with Quangos. Many Quangos have the hidden taxation of an industry levy as well as direct funding from Government. For reasons of space I have missed off many Quangos with small budgets. I have also missed off others - for instance museums with huge budgets and overmanning - where some budget cut would probably be reasonable.

Of course abolition has already been announced for several on this list. There could well be valid reasons why some should survive the cull. Some could be defunded but not technically abolished without legislation.

Each should have to go through a genuine challenge to justify its existence. The Government should start from the presumption that each should go unless it can prove otherwise. They should be told that the Government is minded to abolish them completely and the onus is on them to explain why it is necessary for it to continue in some scaled back form. Last week the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander suspended £8.5 billion of spending programmes. That is the approach that is needed.

The Quango State should be put not notice.
 
Cabinet Office

1. Office of the Third Sector. (Growth for the voluntary sector is vital but isn't the means to this is for Government to get out of the way, not fund multimillion pound Quangos?) £30.1 million.
2. Commission for the Compact.  £2 million.

Total Saving £32 million.

Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

1. Advantage West Midlands. £296 million.
2. Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service. £47 million.
3. Business Council for Britain.  £2 million.
4. Competition Commission. (It has a role but its budget should be cut - at present it is taking advantage as a monopoly provider to overcharge the taxpayer. Sharper focus needed. Its Government funding should be halved.) Saving £10.5million.
5. Central Arbitration Committee. £0.6 million.
6. East Midlands Development Agency. £161 million.
7. East of England Development Agency. £131 million.
8. Local Better Regulation Office. £4.4 million
9. Low Pay Commission. £0.9 million.
10. North West Development Agency. £385 million.
11. Ofcom. (Has a role but budget and scope seems excessive. Wastes vast sums on consultation exercises. Supposed to promote competition and adjudicate on complaints. but deregulation and industry self-regulation would achieve more. Its Chief Exec, former Blairite policy wonk Ed Richards is on ludicrous £392,000 a year.) Cut Government funding from £77 million to £5 million. Saving £72 million.
12. One North East. £246 million.
13. South East England Development Agency. £161 million.
14. South West of England Regional Development Agency. £170 million.
15. Yorkshire Forward. £297 million.

Total saving: £1.97 billion
 
Department for Children Schools and Families

1. British Educational Communications and Technology Agency. £54.9 million. GOING.
2. Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. (Supposed to offer help and advice to the courts in adoption cases, custody battles, etc. But many feel it's political correctness means it does more harm than good.) £114 million.
3. Office of the Children's Commissioner for England. £3 million.
4. National College for School Leadership. Talking shop. £111 million.
5. Partnership for Schools.  £32 million.
6. Qualifications and Curriculum Development Authority. £144 million.
7. General Teaching Council for England. £21.1 million.   School Food Trust. £10.7 million.
8. Training and Development Agency for Schools. £0.7 million.
9. Children's Workforce Development Council. £76.6 million.
10. OFSTED. (Used to be worthwhile under Chris Woodhead but now pretty dubious. Should be abolished or scope sharply narrowed?) £222 million.

Total £790 million
 
Department of Communities and Local Government 

1. Advisory Panel for the Beacon scheme. £58,000.
2. Audit Commission. £209 million.
3. Community Development Foundation. £1.7 million.
4. Firebuy. £1.9 million.
5. Homes and Communities Agency. (More housing and cheaper housing is needed but this should be achieved through lifting the distortions in the market - it should be easier to secure a change of use to residential property. More property development should be allowed on wasteland provided the building is attractive. But building the state undertakes or finances, tends to be ugly and poor standard.) £3.9 billion.
6. National Community Forum. £150,000.
7. National Housing and Planning Advice Unit. £1.2 million.
8. Rent Assessment Panels/Residential Property Tribunal Service. £10.9 million
9. Standards Board for England. £8.3 million.
10. Tenants Services Authority. £37.2 million.
11. West Northamptonshire Development Corporation. £22.7 million.

Total saving: £4.193 billion.
 
Department for Culture Media and Sport

1. Arts Council. (Money would be better spend scrapping VAT on theatre and concert tickets? £436.5 million.
2. British Library. (Should be financed through lottery donations?) £107 million.
3. Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. (Promotes ugliness - commissioners include Piers Gough.) £19.8 million
4. English Heritage. (Wouldn't a rather more effective method of promoting English Heritage would be abolition of Inheritance Tax?) £129.4 million.
5. Football Licensing Authority. £1.23 million.
6. Gambling Commission. £0.6 million
7. Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. £14.7 million.
8. Olympic Delivery Authority. (It has a role and much of the wasteful spending is already committed but it's billion a year budget shows great potential for savings.) Say £500 million.
9. Sports England. £130 million.
10. UK Film Council £30 million.
11. UK Sport. £72.2 million.
12. Visit Britain. £49.9 million.

Total saving £1.49 billion.
 
Department of Energy and Climate Change.
 
Committee on Climate Change. A lot of hot air. £1.7 million.
 
Department for Environment Food Rural Affairs

1. Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales. Socialist relic from 1948. Wages should be determined by the market. £0.19 million.
2. Commission for Rural Communities. £6.7 million
3. Environment Agency. (Issues permits, holds consultations, issues reports. Much of its work is ineffective - for instance for instance lots of monitoring of fish stocks but unless we pull out of the Common Fisheries Policy the situation will remain pretty dire no matter how many fish counters the Environment Agency employs. Does some necessary work - flood prevention- so would not be able to save it's entire massive £774 million of Government funding even if closed down.) Saving £500 million.
4. Food from Britain. £4 million.
5. Sustainable Development Commission. £2.7 million.
6. Covent Garden Market Authority. £0.5 million.
7. Science Advisory Council. £0.29 million

Total saving £514.38 million.
 
Department for Business Innovation and Skills

1. Arts and Humanities Research Council. (This along with the ones below has eyewatering budget for "research." But history indicates the innovative breakthroughs come from unfettered genius of private individuals not multi million programmes from state bureaucracies.) £115 million.
2. Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council £412 million.
3. Design Council £6.4 million.
4. Economic and Social Research Council £178 million.
5. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council £785 million.
6. Learning and Skills Council. (A quite staggering budget for state training schemes. What about instead £12 billion on tax breaks to the private sector to take on the unemployed as apprentices? Then we might get somewhere.) £11.9 billion.
7. Medical Research Council £643 million.
8. National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts £25.5 million.
9. Natural Environment Research Council £396 million.
10. Office for Fair Access. (This is the Quango set up to ensure social engineering trumps academic merit in University admissions. The Laura Spence Memorial Quango. It would be a scandal if it is not closed down.) £0.51 million.
11. Science and Technology Facilities Council £682 million.
12. Student Loans Company. Privatise. £88.5 million.
13. Technology Strategy Board £222 million.
14. UK Commission for Employment and Skills.  £66.6 million.

£15.52 billion.
 
Department for Transport.
This Department gets the wooden spoon for transparency. It fails to list the Government spending for each of its Quangos individually. Apparently total government funding for this list is £22 million. However it includes Passenger Focus  which had £8.4 million. Would estimate this Department's Quango budget could be at leat halved.

Total (potential) £11 million.
 
Department for Work and Pensions

1. Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission. (Deadbeat dads should pay up. But does this Quango with its huge budget do any good?) £601 million.
2. Health and Safety Executive. £209.6 million.
3. Remploy. (Promotes work for disabled but taxbreaks would be more effective.) £121.5 million.

Total £932.1 million.
 
Department of Health

1. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. £11.3 million
2. Appointments Commission. £4.1 million.
3. Care Quality Commission. £2.3 million
4. Commission for Social Care Inspection. £64.6 million
5. General Social Care Council. (Social work training is a disaster zone.) £40.3 million.
6. Health Protection Agency. (Warning about disease is fine - but doesn't this duplicate the work of others? CEO on £207,800!) £155.9 million.
7. Healthcare Commission. £61.4 million.
8. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. £2.8 million.
9. Human Tissue Authority. £1.6 million.
10. Institiute for Innovation and Improvement. £81.9 million.

Total £426.2 million.
 
Export Credits Guarantee Department. £48 million
 

Food Standards Agency

"Openness is one of the core values of the Food Standards Agency," says the website. Yeah, right. Just try finding their annual budget. Eventually on the Treasury website I found it was £134 million.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

1. Westminster Foundation for Democracy. £4.1 million.
2. Great Britain-China Centre.   £0.3 million.
3. Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission. £1.9 million.
4. British Council. £197.8 million.

Total £204.1 million
 
Government Equalities Office

1. Equality and Human Rights Commission. £59.3 million.
2. Women's National Commission. £0.75 million.

Total £60.05 million
 

HM Treasury

Statistics Authority £313 million.
 
Home Office

National Policing Improvement Agency. £535 million.

Ministry of Justice

1. Administrative Justice Tribunal. £1.26 million.
2. Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information. £0.17 million
3. Civil Justice Council £0.32 million
4. Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. (Make self financing by seizing assets from criminals?) £283.5 million.
5. Law Commission. £4.1 million.
6. Legal Services Board. £0.8 million.
7. Legal Services Commission. £128.6 million.
8. Sentencing Review Panel. (money would be better spent on prison places to allow to longer sentences.) £1.54 million.
9. Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. (A vast £518 million for a poor return. Getting young offenders on the straight and narrow is important but wouldn't the voluntary sector do a better job at half the price?) £259 million.

Total 679.21 million.
 
Northern Ireland Office

1. Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. £7.2 million
2. Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. £1.74 million.
3. Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission £80 million
4.  Office for the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. £9.7 million.
5. Parades Commission for Northern Ireland. £1.04 million.

Total £99.68 million.
 
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. £6 million.
 
Electoral Commission £24 million

Independent Safeguarding Authority. £12.9 million.
 
Total proposed saving £27,683,760,000