Nearly a third of Government spending now funds quangos, which employ more staff than the population of Cardiff, new figures from the Taxpayers' Alliance have revealed
15th September 2025 : New report from Taxpayers' Alliance which shows cost and extent of unelected quangos power here in the UK.
The report shows:
In 2023-24, 438 quangos collectively accounted for £391 billion in public expenditure. This is equivalent to 32 per cent of total managed expenditure in 2023-24.
Quangos received £411 billion in total income in 2023-24. Of this, £376 billion was government funded income.
In 2023-24, there were almost 500,000 staff members working in quangos.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport sponsored the most quangos of any department in 2023-24, at 41.
It is followed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at 38
And the Ministry of Justice at 35.
NHS England, soon to be abolished, received £175billion in Government funding, more than any other quango, alongside £5.9billion in additional non-Government income.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency followed with £72.3billion, while HM Revenue & Customs secured £41billion, placing them second and third in public funding received..
"...John O’Connell, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "The combined might of this bureaucracy dwarfs that of any single government department."
"Yet this ministry of quangos remains unelected and largely unaccountable to the public footing the bill." O’Connell added: "Ministers must get a grip on this shadow state. "That means axing functions, demanding transparency, and ultimately putting quangos back under proper democratic control...
...Responding, Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice MP said: "These findings are explosive. The Government is spending more on opaque quangos than on health, defence, transport and education combined, with almost no accountability...
...Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Mel Stride, who said: "Every penny of taxpayers’ money that the Government spends needs to be justified."
"We have more and more bureaucrats without any obvious benefits in terms of better public services..."
READ FULL GB NEWS ARTICLE HERE
READ FULL BRIEFING FROM THE TAXPAYERS' ALLIANCE HERE
SEE OTHER MEDIA REPORTS ON THE QUANGO BRIEFING:
THE SUN: "HEFTY BILL; Shock as £376BILLION of taxpayer cash swallowed up by quangos in a year, report finds"
THE EXPRESS: "Taxpayers spend nearly £400bn on 438 quangos, 'explosive' findings show"
GUIDO FAWKES: "Taxpayers Fork Out £391 Billion on Quangos in One Year"