Report warns how the rise of the quango 'costs each family £3,640 a year'

Published 26th Oct 2009

The quango state is still expanding despite the crisis in the public finances and is now costing every household £3,640 a year, a report warns today.

More than 1,000 unelected public bodies were handed over £90billion of taxpayers' money in 2007-08 - an astonishing increase of £13billion on the previous year, research found.

So many quangos - quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations - have proliferated that there is no clear picture of how many there are or how much they cost.

High score: The Department of Health has the most quangos, totalling 72 but the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills spends the most money on its quangos

The Government says there are around 800. But a comprehensive survey by the Taxpayers' Alliance campaign group has identified 1,152.

Many of the 'quangocrats' running the organisations are Labour cronies who can earn six-figure sums.

The spiralling cost of the quangos - state agencies, commissions, advisory and monitoring bodies, as well as NHS trusts - will anger Britons struggling in the recession.

Today's report says they now employ more than 534,000 people and are riddled with problems of cronyism and accountability.

Last year, the Government at Westminster funded 960 bodies to the tune of £82billion, while the Scottish Executive spent £7.3billion on 146 organisations.

The Welsh Assembly spent £1billion on 37 bodies, while nine organisations cost the Northern Ireland executive £700million.

Big spender: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills awarded more than £21billion to its 23 quangos

The UK government department with the most quangos was the Department of Health, with 72.

However, the one to lavish most money on quangos was the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, which directed more than £21billion to its 23 bodies, £11billion of which went to the Learning and Skills Council, and £7billion to the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

The report names a number of bodies - including British Waterways, the Carbon Trust and School Food Trust - that it says should be subject to immediate spending cuts as Britain struggles to rein in an unprecedented £175billion deficit.

Ben Farrugia, co-author of the study, said: 'Politicians are talking again about a bonfire of the quangos. But the terrible state of the public finances means that this can't just be more idle talk.'

The report raises concerns about accountability, arguing that the bodies 'are used by ministers to avoid taking responsibility for failures in public service delivery'.

It says quangos are difficult to abolish, often operate as taxpayer-funded lobbying groups and suffer from cronyism - with top jobs the 'gift of ministers'. So many are now in operation that their responsibilities often overlap, it adds.

Tory Cabinet Office spokesman Francis Maude said: 'As a million workers face losing their jobs in the private sector this year, Gordon Brown continues to burn taxpayers' money on a quango gravy train.'

The Tories say each quango would be forced to justify its existence if they win the election.

Labour has poured scorn on Mr Cameron's pledge to rein in the quango state, claiming Tory policy announcements would set up even more - including a new Office of Budget Responsibility to oversee the public finances.

Mr Cameron's plan to de-politicise the NHS will also mean it being run by an enormous new quango in the shape of an independent board.

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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