Which quango is next for Labour’s ‘bonfire’? The bodies controlling £350bn of public money and 400,000 staff that could be at risk from Starmer’s new-found lust for cuts_Nhy
Keir Starmer urged ministers to take back control as he scrapped the ‘world’s biggest quango’ yesterday.
NHS England is being merged back into the Department of Health, with ministers arguing that more than 9,000 jobs can be cut by removing ‘duplication’.
The process – intended to boost ‘democratic control’ as well as saving ‘hundreds of millions of pounds’ by making the system more efficient – will take around two years to complete.
But the move has raised questions about what other arms-length bodies could be for the chop. Together they oversee £350billion of spending and employ nearly 400,000 staff.
The second largest quango has already been slated for abolition, with Bridget Phillipson having announced last Autumn that the Education and Skills Funding Agency will disappear at the end of this month.
That is responsible for more than £67billion of taxpayer resources.
Keir Starmer will launch a striking assault on the ‘flabby, unfocused and over-cautious’ state today as he vows an AI revolution in the civil service to save £45billion
Other major players in the ‘quangocracy’ include HM Revenue & Customs, a spin-off from the Treasury that administers some benefits as well as collecting taxes.
Network Rail, which oversees infrastructure, UK Research & Innovation, HS2 and National Highways are also big-ticket bodies.
The HM Prison & Probation Service, Homes England and the UK Health Security Agency complete the top 10 in terms of the resources they manage – although none comes close to NHS England.
No10 has been forced to deny that the Whitehall efficiency initiative has been privately nicknamed ‘Project Chainsaw’.
Downing Street dismissed the reference to Donald Trump adviser Elon Musk wielding a chainsaw to represent his cuts to government spending was ‘juvenile’.
Sir Keir said yesterday that abolishing NHSE will reduce ‘duplication’, saving money that can then be spent on frontline services.
Answering a question from a cancer patient on how the decision would improve the situation, the premier said: ‘Amongst the reasons we are abolishing it is because of the duplication.
‘So, if you can believe it, we’ve got a communications team in NHS England, we’ve got a communications team in the health department of government; we’ve got a strategy team in NHS England, a strategy team in the government department. We are duplicating things that could be done once.
‘If we strip that out, which is what we are doing today, that then allows us to free up that money to put it where it needs to be, which is the front line.’
He added that the Government wanted to push power to frontline workers ‘and away from the bureaucracy which often holds them up’.
On Tuesday, Sir Keir instructed ministers to stop a ‘trend’ of ‘outsourcing’ decisions to ‘other bodies’ begun under the previous government and assess whether regulations contributed to Labour’s agenda.
Later the same day, the Government announced that the Payment Systems Regulator will be abolished and merged with the Financial Conduct Authority in what Sir Keir said was ‘the latest step in our efforts to kickstart economic growth’.
Ministers appear to have grown increasingly frustrated with the role of regulators as they attempt to boost the UK’s economy, with the Chancellor urging them to focus more on encouraging growth.
