Tag Archives: lord taylor of holbeach

Coalition drops plans to allow Ministers to scrap quangos without consulting Parliament

By The Voice | Wed 2nd March 2011 - 5:53 pm

The Government has abandoned plans to give ministers sweeping powers to scrap quangos without consulting MPs.

The Public Bodies Bill has been proposed by the Coalition to allow ministers to abolish almost 200 public bodies including the Audit Commission and the Film Council.

It would also give ministers extensive new legal powers to order changes to another 150 public bodies using secondary legislation, meaning they could be abolished without further parliamentary approval.

Such powers are often called “Henry VIII” powers in reference to the Tudor monarch’s autocratic rule.

After a report by the Lords Constitution Committee, which said they would …