"Yes, the old cliché has re-asserted itself: when in doubt, create a quango"
Daily Mail: 2nd August 2024: Quentin Letts writes on Starmer plans to increase the number of quangos replacing parliamentarian decision-making and the power and money these unelected bodies wield.
"...The Starmer government has made such a rackety start... that you possibly missed the conception of several new Government bodies... when in doubt, create a quango... We have seen the creation of a National Wealth Fund, Skills England, Great British Energy, various 'Mission Delivery Boards'...
...like other quangos, they will duplicate work already being done by other parts of the public and private sectors... further quangos are planned. These include an Orwellian-sounding Integrity And Ethics Commission, Climate Export Hubs, Community Payback Boards and a National Cladding Taskforce...
...Quango stands for 'quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation' and it applies to arms of government that are not supervised directly by ministers...There are said to be hundreds of them but the precise number is elusive...
Dr Richard Norrie, in his 2023 pamphlet... estimated that quangos employed 318,714 people and annually spent £223.9 billion of taxpayers' money... 21 per cent of total government expenditure.
A report by the Public Accounts Committee in 2021 put that sum higher, at £265 billion... Given that this is being dispensed by outfits which are officially beyond the reach of elected politicians, the figures are staggering, and they will only increase with Sir Keir..."