Ministers to review hundreds of public bodies in quango audit-OxBig News Network

Hundreds of public bodies are to be reviewed in a bid to cut spending and give ministers more decision-making powers.

Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden has written to government departments asking them to justify the existence of every taxpayer-funded organisation not directly controlled by ministers.

Some of these organisations, known as quangos, could be closed, merged, or have their responsibilities handed over to departments.

The BBC has been told ministers are considering passing a new law that would make it easier to scrap multiple quangos at once.

A government source said the review had no completion date, and ministers had not set a target for how many quangos, or quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations, they wanted to abolish.

The source said the review be particularly focused on quangos dealing with policy issues of national importance.

The review comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced plans to abolish NHS England, which Labour has described as the world’s biggest quango.

The organisation will be brought into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), in a radical overhaul of the management structure of the NHS.

The move is part of the government’s drive to slim down the Civil Service, with a view to saving money and restructuring how the state works.

Last month, Sir Keir told his ministers they should take more responsibility for decisions rather than “outsourcing” them to regulators.

Quangos are organisations such as regulators, cultural institutions and advisory bodies, which are funded by taxpayers but not directly controlled from Whitehall.

They range from huge organisations like NHS England, to smaller ones like the Gambling Commission and the British Film Institute.

Some – such as the Environment Agency, or the broadcasting regulator Ofcom – have powers to make decisions without ministerial input.

The Cabinet Office’s review will consider four key principles, including the importance of ministerial oversight of key policy areas and government efficiency.

There will be a presumption that all quangos could be scrapped unless there is a compelling reason to keep them, the Cabinet Office said.

But some quangos that scrutinise the government or protect the rule of law will remain unaffected.

McFadden said the government wants to “ensure decisions of national importance that affect everyone in this country are made by those who have been elected to do so”.

He added: “The review will aim to drive out waste and inefficiency across Whitehall, reducing duplication and bureaucracy – saving the taxpayer money and cutting the cost of ‘doing government’.”

Since Labour won the general election last year, government has set up a number of new quangos, including Great British Energy, which invests in clean power sources.

Previous governments have taken an axe to these organisations, with the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition getting rid of hundreds in a so-called bonfire of quangos from 2010.

But trade unions are wary of further cuts, and fear they could mean jobs losses in the Civil Service.

“If they target up to 50% job cuts – as they are pursuing with the NHS England and DHSC merger – the government seriously risks undermining their own agenda,” said Lucille Thirlby, assistant general secretary of the FDA, a union representing senior civil servants.

Fran Heathcote, boss of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, which represents civil servants below the senior rank, said ministers “must ensure that there is proper engagement with the unions”.

She said: “If these changes are to be a success, our members will obviously need guarantees on their job security and pay and conditions.

“This is a big opportunity to change the civil service for the better and the government must handle it properly.”