Tag Archives: Public Bodies Reform Bill

Alex Marsh

Opinion: Should we be concerned about the Government’s attempted quangocide?

By Alex Marsh | Thu 13th January 2011 - 1:20 pm

Quangos – Quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations – occupy a strange place in the British political landscape. They tend to proliferate because governments can’t resist seeing new commissions for this or advisory panels for that as essential, while rarely deciding that existing bodies have outlived their usefulness. Yet, the term “quango” inhabits the same discursive space as “bureaucracy”. There is an engrained association with waste, inefficiency, red tape and pointless interfering. In many people’s minds, and frequently in political rhetoric, “quango = bad” by definition. (For a discussion of a similar equation regarding bureaucracy, see here on my blog.) So, the …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and Parliament | Also tagged and | 7 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Nick Baird
    The Government report that said the self-driving market would be worth up to £42 billion and create up to 38,000 jobs is from a 2022 report by Grant Schapps an...
  • Paul Turnbull
    There seems to a fundamental misunderstanding from the author and a few of the comments on the nature of the UK state pension. The UK state pension is designed ...
  • expats
    Chris, you also neglected to mention that the link to 'earnings' has already been 'deemed unaffordable'.. Almost exactly 5 years ago (Sept 2021)The Tory govern...
  • Jana
    Perhaps insist that an approved ‘black cab style self-driving car’ be mandated for those who wish to enjoy the advantages of modern technological developmen...
  • Ruth Bright
    Victor, Richard, Gary - so proud of you all. Nice to look back on my time as Deputy Leader in Southwark a quarter of a century ago and know that time was not wa...