Keir Starmer orders his Labour ministers to stop ‘outsourcing’ decisions to regulators – despite having created scores of new quangos since taking power_Nhy
Keir Starmer has ordered the Government to stop ‘outsourcing’ decisions to regulators – despite having created scores of new quangos since taking power.
The Prime Minister told his ministers that they must take responsibility for decisions as he suggested that some regulators could see their power moved ‘in-house’.
Today, he announces plans to abolish the Payment Systems Regulator, describing it as the ‘latest step in our efforts to kickstart economic growth’.
However, it emerged that not only will the body not be scrapped immediately as it will require new laws, but it will not save a penny of taxpayers’ money.
The announcement comes ahead of the PM’s planned ‘intervention’ tomorrow to announce plans to ‘rewire’ the British state.
During Cabinet yesterday, Sir Keir ordered his ministers to ‘go further and faster to reform the state, to deliver a strong, agile and active state that delivers for working people’.
He told the Cabinet meeting that he wanted to reverse a ‘trend’ under the previous government of decisions being made by other bodies.
His remarks have been taken as an indication that he and Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden could look to cut the number of quangos.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer told his ministers that they must take responsibility for decisions
Keir Starmer and Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden could look to cut the number of quangos (pictured: Whitehall)
But the Conservatives quickly pointed out that Labour had created 27 new quangos since winning the election.
A Tory source said: ‘Since it assumed power, this government of bureaucrats and lawyers has created a new quango once every nine days.
‘Like his disastrous budget and snatching away winter fuel payments, Keir Starmer is constantly having to undo his own terrible decisions.’
The rate has slowed slightly since Labour’s first six months in power in which they created 25 new quangos and task forces – equivalent to one a week.
The PM will announce today that the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) will be cut as part of the Government’s growth agenda.
However, the announcement will not result in any immediate changes because Parliament will need to pass laws to make the changes.
The work of the PSR – which looks after payment systems like Faster Payments and Mastercard – is also expected to be taken over by another official body, the Financial Conduct Authority, in the meantime.
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden
Scrapping the body will not even save the taxpayer a penny – the body’s budget was £28million this year, with £25million funded by fee payers and the remaining money covered by a surplus.
Asked yesterday whether Sir Keir’s words signalled a ‘bonfire of the quangos’, Downing Street declined to set out whether other official bodies could be scrapped.
Referring to the Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘(Sir Keir) said that to deliver security and renewal we must go further and faster to reform the state, to deliver a strong, agile and active state that delivers for working people.
‘This includes Cabinet assessing processes and regulations that play no part in delivering the plan for change and the Government taking responsibility for decisions rather than outsourcing them to regulators and bodies, as had become the trend under the previous government.’
On Monday, Sir Keir and cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald wrote to all civil servants calling for a ‘rewiring of the British state’.
Their message included plans to make the Civil Service smaller, while the proportion of civil servants in digital or data roles will double by 2030.
