Bonfire of the quangos

A number of non-departmental government bodies / quangos have been named as being up for abolition, merger or absorption into parent departments, as part of the Coalition Government's Spending Review, due this autumn. This has been widely dubbed in the press as a "bonfire of the quangos".

The list of quangos up for review is still being compiled, and there have been a number of clarifications, amendments and retractions as further details come to light.

As dates are confirmed and necessary legislation made, these should be copied into Current events.

• 24/09/2010 - The Telegraph has obtained a list of 177 quangos up for abolition - they are listed in full below.
• 14/10/2010 - According to The Register, the official list is now available, or would be if various government Web sites were working.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

• Main announcement: [1]
• To be abolished:
  • Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property policy (SABIP)
  • SITPRO (Simplifying International Trade)
  • Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Advisory Body (WAB)
  • British Shipbuilders Corporation (to be abolished 2011)

• Announced 24 May 2010
  • seven Regional Industrial Development Boards
  • UfI/Learndirect
  • Learning & Skills Improvement Service
  • Institute for Learning
  • Standards and Verification UK
  • IiP UK
  • Hearing Aid Council (closing 31 July 2010, powers are being transferred to HPC[2])

Department for Communities and Local Government

• Main announcement: [3]
• To be abolished:
  • Government Office for the South-West
  • Government Office for the South-East
  • Government Office for the East Midlands
  • Government Office for the West Midlands
  • Government Office for the East of England
  • Government Office for the North-West
  • Government Office for the Yorkshire & the Humber
  • Government Office for the North-East
  • Government Office for London
  • Regional Spatial Strategies
  • Regional Assemblies/Regional Leaders' Boards
  • the Regional Development Agencies

Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

• Main announcement: [4]
• Changes announced:
  • abolishing the UK Film Council and establishing a direct and less bureaucratic relationship with the British Film Institute; this would support front-line services while ensuring greater value for money - Government and Lottery support for film will continue
  • abolishing the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council to focus efforts on front-line, essential services and ensure greater value for money - Government support for museums, libraries and archives will continue
  • merging UK Sport and Sport England, creating a more effective structure to deliver elite sport success and a wider sports legacy from the 2012 games
• DCMS is also looking at:
  • abolishing the Advisory Council on Libraries and winding up the Legal Deposit Advisory Panel
  • abolishing the Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites
  • declassifying the Advisory Committee on National Historic Ships and transferring its functions to another body
  • declassifying the Theatres Trust so it can act as an independent statutory advisory body
  • looking at its responsibility for heritage and the built environment, and considering the role and remit of English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the National Heritage Memorial Fund
  • considering the role of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment
  • discussing with the Church of England the merits of declassifying the Churches Conservation Trust
  • considering whether to change the status, role and functions of Visit England and Visit Britain
  • it intends to merge the National Lottery Commission with the Gambling Commission, subject to further consideration of the business case.

Department for Education

• Abolition of General Teaching Council for England (GTC) [5]
• Abolition of British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) [6]

Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC)

tbc

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

• Main announcement: [7]
• Defra will carry out this as part of the Public Bodies Reform Bill
• To be abolished:
  • Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution
  • Agricultural Wages Board
  • the 15 Agricultural Wages Committees
  • the 16 Agricultural Dwelling House Advisory Committees
  • Committee on Agricultural Valuation
  • Inland Waterways Advisory Council
  • Commons Commissioners
  • Defra is also withdrawing funding from the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC)

Department for Transport

tbc

Department of Health

• Announcement 26/07/2010 [8]
• To be abolished:
  • Alcohol Education and Research Council - to be abolished
  • Appointments Commission - to be abolished during 2012. Move remaining appointments to the Department of Health.
  • Care Quality Commission - Retain as quality inspectorate across health and social care, operating a joint licensing regime with Monitor. Host organisation for Healthwatch England. Current responsibility of assessing NHS commissioning moves to the NHS Commissioning Board. May gain functions from other organisations, e.g. HTA and HFEA.
  • Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence - Remove from the sector. Make a self-funding body by charging a levy on regulators. Extend role to set standards for and quality assure voluntary registers.
  • General Social Care Council - Transfer the regulation of social workers to the Health Professions Council, which will be renamed to reflect its new remit.
  • Health and Social Care Information Centre - Retain, and put on a firmer statutory footing by establishing it in primary legislation. National repository for data collection across health care, public health and adult social care. Clearer focus on data collection, with a close working relationship with the NHS Commissioning Board.
  • Health Protection Agency - Abolish as a statutory organisation and transfer functions to the Secretary of State as part of the new Public Health Service.
  • Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HEFA) - Retain as a separate ALB for the time being, with the aim of transferring its functions by the end of the current Parliament. In the meantime, we will examine the practicalities (and legal implications) of how to divide the HFEA’s functions between a new research regulator, the Care Quality Commission and the Health and Social Care Information Centre.
  • Human Tissue Authority - Retain as a separate ALB for the time being, with the aim of transferring its functions by the end of the current Parliament. In the meantime, we will examine the practicalities (and legal implications) of how to divide the HTA’s functions between a new research regulator, the Care Quality Commission and the Health and Social Care Information Centre.
  • Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency - Retain, but with the expectation that it will undertake its regulatory duties in the most cost effective way.
  • Monitor - Retain and make an economic regulator, operating a joint licensing regime with CQC.
  • National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) - Retain, and put on a firmer statutory footing by establishing it in primary legislation. Expand scope to include social care standards.
  • National Patient Safety Agency - Abolish as an ALB. Safety functions retained and transferred to the National Commissioning Board. Explore transfer of National Research and Ethics Service functions to single research regulator. National Clinical Assessment Service to become self-funding over the next two to three years.
  • National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse - Abolish as an ALB, and transfer functions to the Secretary of State as part of the new Public Health Service.
  • NHS Blood and Transplant - Retain, and commission an in-depth review of opportunities to make more commercially effective. Transfer Bio-Products Laboratory out of NHSBT into a Department of Health owned company.
  • NHS Business Services Authority - Retain in short term, and commission commercial review to identify potential for increased commercial opportunities, including potential to remove functions from the ALB sector.
  • NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement - Abolish. Move functions which will support the NHS Commissioning Board in leading for quality improvement to the Board. Review the potential for its remaining functions to be delivered through alternative commercial delivery models.
  • NHS Litigation Authority - Retain, and commission an industry review to identify potential opportunities for greater commercial involvement.

Ministry of Defence

tbc

Telegraph list of quangos to be abolished (24/09/2010)

Public bodies to be abolished (177 bodies)

• Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council
• Advisory Board on the Registration of Homoeopathic Products
• Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens
• Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections
• Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances
• Advisory Committee on Carbon Abatement Technologies
• Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites
• Advisory Committee on National Historic Ships
• Advisory Committee on Organic Standards
• Advisory Committee on Packaging
• Advisory Committee on Pesticides
• Advisory Committee on the Government Art Collection
• Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood Tissues and Organs
• Advisory Council on Libraries
• Advisory Group on Hepatitis
• Advisory Panel on Local Innovation Awards
• Advisory Panel on Standards for the Planning Inspectorate
• Agricultural Dwelling House Advisory Committee (16 bodies)
• Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales
• Agricultural Wages Committee (15 bodies)
• Air Quality Expert Group
• Alcohol Education and Research Council
• Animal Welfare Advisory Committee
• Appointments Commission
• Audit Commission for Local Authorities and the National Health Service in England also more simply known as the Audit Commission)
• British Educational Communications and Technology Agency
• British Nuclear Fuels
• British Shipbuilders
• British Waterways Board
• Capacity Builders
• Caribbean Board
• Churches Conservation Trust
• Commission for Integrated Transport
• Commission for Rural Communities
• Commission for the Compact
• Committee on Agricultural Valuation (dormant at present [9])
• Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment
• Committee on Medical Aspects of Air Pollutants
• Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment
• Committee on Mutagenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment
• Committee on Safety of Devices
• Commons Commissioners
• Consular Stakeholder Panel
• Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence
• Courts Boards (19 bodies)
• Crown Court Rule Committee
• Cycling England
• Darwin Advisory Committee
• Disability Employment Advisory Committee
• Disability Living Allowance Advisory Board
• Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee
• Expert Advisory Group on AIDS
• Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards
• Farm Animal Welfare Council
• Food from Britain (closed 2009-03-31 [10])
• Foreign Compensation Commission
• Gene Therapy Advisory Committee
• General Social Care Council
• General Teaching Council for England
• Genetic Testing and Insurance Committee
• Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine
• Government Strategic Marketing Advisory Board
• Health Protection Agency
• The Hearing Aid Council already removed by Health and Social Care Act 2008 and SI 2010/708)
• Herbal Medicines Advisory Committee
• HM Inspectorate of Court Administration
• Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
• Human Genetics Commission
• Human Tissue Authority
• Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV
• Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy
• Independent Living Funds
• Independent Review Panel for the Classification of Borderline Products
• Independent Review Panel for Advertising of Medicines
• Infrastructure Planning Commission
• The Inland Waterways Advisory Council
• Insolvency Practitioners Tribunal
• Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation
• Legal Deposit Advisory Panel
• Legal Services Commission
• Legal Services Ombudsman (already removed by Legal Services Act 2007)
• London Thames Gateway Development Corporation*
• Main Honours Advisory Committee
• Magistrates' Court Rule Committee
• Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries
• National Housing and Planning Advice Unit
• National Information Governance Board for Health and Social Care
• National Joint Registry Steering Committee
• National Policing Improvement Agency
• National Standing Committee for Farm Animal Genetic Resources
• National Tenant Voice
• National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts
• Office for the Civil Society Advisory Bodies
• Olympic Park Legacy Company*
• Pesticide Residues Committee
• Public Guardian Board
• Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency
• Railway Heritage Committee - Not subject
• regional development agency (8 bodies)
• Renewables Advisory Board
• Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution
• School Food Trust
• School Support Staff Negotiating Body
• Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition
• Security Commission (subject to EIR but not FOI)
• Security Industry Authority
• SITPRO Limited (Simplifying International Trade)
• Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee
• Standards Board for England
• Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property
• Sustainable Development Commission
• Teachers TV Board
• Theatres Trust
• Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation*
• UK Chemical Weapons Convention National Authority Advisory Committee
• UK Film Council
• Union Modernisation Advisory Fund
• Veterinary Residues Committee
• Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Advisory Board
• West Northamptonshire Development Corporation*
• Women’s National Commission
• Zoos Forum

(*) = Responsibility devolved to relevant Local Authority

Public bodies to be privatised (4 bodies)

• Construction and Skills Training Board
• The Engineering Construction Industry
• Film Industry Training Board
• The Tote Board

Public bodies to be merged or consolidated (Maximum of 129 bodies reduced to Minimum of 57)

• Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace, (101 bodies – to be reduced to 49)
• Central Arbitration Committee, Single Arbitration Panel
• Certification Office, (as above)
• Competition Appeals Tribunal, Single Tribunals Service
• Competition Service, (as above)
• Copyright Tribunal, (as above)
• Police Advisory Board, (as above)
• Police Negotiating Board, (as above)
• Police Arbitration Tribunal, (as above)
• Rent Assessment Panels, (as above)
• Residential Property Tribunal Service, (as above)
• Valuation Tribunal for England, (as above)
• Valuation Tribunal Service
• Crown Prosecution Service, Single Prosecution Service
• Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office, (as above)
• English Heritage, Single Heritage Body
• National Heritage Memorial Fund, (as above)
• National Heritage Lottery Fund, (as above)
• Football Licensing Authority, Single Sport Body
• Sport England, (as above)
• UK Sport, (as above)
• Gambling Commission, Single Gambling Regulator
• National Lottery Commission, (as above)
• The Office of Communications (Ofcom), Single Communications Regulator
• Postal Services Commission (Postcomm), (as above)
• Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner, Single Immigration Body
• Pensions Ombudsman, Single Pensions Regulator
• Pensions Protection Fund Ombudsman, (as above)
• Serious Organised Crime Agency, Merged into National Crime Agency

Public bodies still under review (94 bodies)

• Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors
• Advisory Council on Public Records
• Advisory Council on National Records and Archives
• Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts
• Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information
• Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board
• Animal Procedures Committee
• BBC World Service
• British Council
• British Hallmarking Council
• Building Regulations Advisory Committee
• Carbon Trust
• Chief Coroner of England and Wales - Not subject
• Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission
• Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS)
• Children’s Workforce Development Council
• Civil Justice Council
• Coal Authority
• Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE)
• Community Development Foundation
• Competition Commission
• Consumer Council for Water
• Consumer Focus
• Covent Garden Market Authority
• Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority
• Design Council
• Diplomatic Service Appeal Board
• Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD)
• Energy Savings Trust
• Environment Agency
• Equality and Human Rights Commission
• Family Justice Council
• Firebuy Ltd
• Forestry Commission
• Fuel Poverty Advisory Group
• Historic Royal Palaces
• Homes and Community Agency
• Horserace Betting Levy Board
• Independent Safeguarding Authority
• Industrial Development Advisory Board
• Investigatory Powers Tribunal
• Joint Nature Conservation Committee
• Law Commission of England and Wales
• LEASE (The Leasehold Advisory Service)
• Local Better Regulation Office
• National Museums and Galleries (18 bodies - see below*)
• National Army Museum
• National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services
• National Employer Advisory Board
• National Forest Company
• National Museum of the Royal Navy
• Natural England
• Office for Fair Access
• Office of Fair Trading
• Water Services Regulation Authority
• Partnership for Schools
• Public Lending Right Committee
• Public Trustee Youth Justice Board
• Rail Passengers' Committee
• Remploy Ltd
• Renewable Fuels Agency
• Royal Air Force Museum
• Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew
• Royal Mint Advisory Committee on the Design of Coins, Medals, Seals and Decorations
• Sea Fish Industry Authority
• Student Loans Company Ltd
• Tenant Services Authority
• The National Archives
• The Office of the Children's Commissioner
• The Pensions Advisory Service
• Training and Development Agency for Schools
• UK Atomic Energy Agency
• UK India Round Table
• UK Supreme Court
• Visit Britain
• Visit England
• Young People's Learning Agency for England

(*) Refers to those National Museums and Galleries in England which are publicly-funded by DCMS and receive rebates of VAT incurred in the course of their activities, in order them to enable free admission to the public. These are:

• The British Museum
• The Imperial War Museum
• The National Gallery
• The National Maritime Museum
• The National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside
• The Natural History Museum
• The Royal Armouries
• The National Museum of Science and Industry (The Science Museum)
• The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television;
• The National Railway Museum;
• The National Coal Mining Museum for England;
• The Tate Galleries
• The Wallace Collection
• The Greater Manchester Museum of Science and Industry;
• Sir John Soane’s Museum
• The Museum of London
• Geffrye Museum
• Horniman Museum.

Other publicly-funded museums (The British Library, The National Army Museum, etc.) are separately referred to in this list, and museums in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are a devolved matter (although they also receive rebates of VAT).

Public bodies which will be retained (350 bodies)

FOI requests to most of these public authorities can be made using WhatDoTheyKnow.com. Direct links to these public authorities can be found here

• ACAS
• Administration of Radioactive Substances Advisory Committee
• Advisory Committee on Business Appointments
• Advisory Committee on Civil Costs
• Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards
• Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances
• Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment
• Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs
• Advisory Group on Military Medicine
• Agricultural Land Tribunal
• Architects Registration Board
• Armed Forces Pay Review Body
• Arts Council England
• BBC
• Big Lottery Fund
• British Railway Board (Residuary) Ltd
• British Library
• British Pharmocopoeia Commission
• British Transport Police
• British Wool Marketing Board
• Broads Authority
• Capital for Enterprise
• Care Quality Commission
• Central Advisory Committee on Pensions and Compensation
• Central Office of Information
• Channel 4
• Charity Commission for England and Wales
• Civil Aviation Authority
• Civil Nuclear Police Authority and Constabulary
• Civil Procedure Rule Committee
• Civil Service Appeals Board
• Commission on Human Medicines
• Committee on Climate Change
• Committee on Radioactive Waste Management
• Committee on Standards in Public Life
• Commonwealth Development Corporation
• Commonwealth Scholarship Commission
• Courts Fund Office
• Criminal Cases Review Commission
• Criminal Procedure Rule Committee
• Defence Nuclear Safety Committee
• Defence Scientific Advisory Council
• Equality 2025
• Family Procedure Rule Committee
• Fire Service College
• Food Standards Agency
• Forensic Science Service
• Gangmasters Licensing Authority
• Great North Eastern Railways Ltd
• Higher Education Funding Council for England
• HM Inspectorate of Prisons
• HM Inspectorate of Probation
• HM Land Registry
• Horserace Betting Levy Appeal Tribunal
• House of Lords Appointment Commission
• Independent Advisory Panels on Deaths in Custody
• Independent Agricultural Appeals Panel
• Independent Housing Ombudsman
• Independent Monitoring Board for the Military Corrective Training Centre
• Independent Police Complaints Commission
• Independent Prison Monitoring Boards (147 bodies)
• Independent Reconfiguration Panel
• Industrial Injuries Advisory Council
• Information Commissioner's Office
• Insolvency Rules Committee
• Judicial Appointments Commission
• Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman
• Land Registration Rule Committee
• Legal Services Board
• Local Government Ombudsman
• London and Continental Railways Ltd
• Low Pay Commission
• Marine Management Organisation
• Marshall Aid Foundation
• Medical Education England
• Migration Advisory Committee
• Monitor
• National Employment Savings Trust
• National Parks Authorities (9 bodies)
• National Savings and Investments
• National School of Government
• Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes
• NHS Pay Review Body
• Northern Lighthouse Board
• Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
• Nuclear Liabilities Board
• Nuclear Liability Financing Assurance Board
• Nuclear Research Advisory Council
• Office of Judicial Complaints
• Office for Legal Complaints
• Office of Manpower Economics
• Office of Rail Regulation
• Office of Surveillance Commissioners
• Office of the Public Guardian
• Official Solicitor
• Ofgem
• Ofqual
• Ofsted
• Oil and Pipelines Agency
• Olympic Delivery Authority
• Olympic Lottery Distributor
• Ordnance Survey
• Parole Board
• Partnerships UK
• Pension Protection Fund
• Pensions Regulator
• Planning Inspectorate
• Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal
• Police Discipline Appeals Tribunal
• Prison Services Pay Review Body
• Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
• Probation Trusts (35 bodies)
• Research Councils (7 bodies)
• Restraint Accreditation Board
• Review Board for Government Contracts
• Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration
• Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art
• Royal Mail Holdings Plc
• S4C
• School Teachers' Review Body
• Science Advisory Council
• Scientific Advisory Committee on the Medical Implications of Less-Lethal Weapons
• Security Vetting Appeals Panel
• Senior Salaries Review Body
• Sentencing Council for England and Wales
• Social Security Advisory Committee
• Technical Advisory Board
• Technical Assessor for Compensation of Miscarriages of Justice
• Technology Strategy Board
• The Royal Mint
• The Westminster Foundation for Democracy
• Traffic Commissioners and Deputies
• Treasure Valuation Committee
• Tribunals Procedure Rule Committee
• Tribunals Service
• Trinity House Lighthouse Service
• UK Anti Doping
• UK Commission for Employment and Skills
• UK Trade and Investment
• Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees (13 bodies)
• Veterinary Products Committee
• Victims Commissioner
• Victim's Advisory Panel