Law and Rights
The Guardian has also set down a list of those quangos which are either to be axed or reviewed ? here.
The government is pressing ahead with a Superannuation Bill which will place a cap on payments under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme - see Cabinet Office; the Bill and Explanatory Notes.
- Criminal Cases Review Commission ~ Powers To Investigate ~ Private Members' Bill
The Royal Commission on Criminal Justice reported in 1993 and made a key recommendation that a Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) be created. It was duly created by the Criminal Appeal Act 1995. The present day commission investigates...
- A Most Serious Report
Here is a very serious report - Equality and Human Rights Commission - Preventing deaths in detention of adults with mental health conditions. I wonder whether government will really take very seriously the matter of the deaths of those detained by the...
- The Ian Tomlinson Case - A Manslaughter Prosecution: Victims Commissioner: Fixed Term Parliaments And Other Bills
Politicians at G20 in 2009The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced that there is to be a prosecution for manslaughter in relation to the death of Mr Ian Tomlinson. P.C. Simon Harwood is to be charged. It is a matter of public record...
- A Chief Coroner? Yes, No, Maybe .... !!
Taken overall, the reforms relating to Coroners and Inquests in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 were well-received. A key element of the reforms was that there should be a Chief Coroner for England and Wales. Judge Peter Thornton QC was...
- A Breathtaking Bill Of Which Even Henry Viii Would Have Been Proud ...!
On 28th October, the government's Public Bodies Bill received its first reading in Parliament - actually it has been first introduced via the House of Lords. We all knew that, mainly for economic reasons, a "Bonfire of the Quangos" was being...
Law and Rights
Bonfire of the Quangos
Those public bodies known as ?Quangos? ? the acronym for ?Quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations? ? are no longer flavour of the month within government circles even though many of them have important legal and/or regulatory roles. There is to be a ?Bonfire of the Quangos?. The death warrants to begin this ?auto da fé ? will be issued shortly. However, when the dismantling costs are factored in, the amount of money to be saved in the early years is not as big as many would like or perhaps imagine - The Guardian 7th October 2010 ? ?Government?s ?bonfire of the quangos? plan will cost as much as it saves?. The "dismantling costs" relate to liabilities for pensions, redundancies and rental contracts.
The Guardian has also set down a list of those quangos which are either to be axed or reviewed ? here.
The government is pressing ahead with a Superannuation Bill which will place a cap on payments under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme - see Cabinet Office; the Bill and Explanatory Notes.
Under review:
Many might be surprised that some of the bodies in the list even exist ? e.g. why we have an ?Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objection? even if, for some individuals serving in the military, it may prove to be necessary ? see here? Other bodies listed for review include some which surely perform necessary functions: the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission; the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority; the Law Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
To be abolished:
The abolition list includes the Audit Commission; the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority; Human Tissue Authority; Security Industry Authority; the Legal Services Commission; the Standards Board for England and Wales. Many (arguably most) of these perform important functions which will still have to be performed somewhere. Obviously, if the task remains then so do some of the costs.
Mergers:
Bodies earmarked for merger include Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace; the Crown Prosecution Service; various tribunals; the Gambling Commission; the National Lottery Commission; OFCOM etc. Details of the mergers are yet to be announced but there are significant costs involved in mergers.
Is there a case for a more measured approach to reducing this large array of public bodies? Is there a danger that the surgery will cause further difficult problems which will then have to be rectified at great costs? There are certainly considerable risks in a too hasty wielding of the scalpel. Just one final thought: the reason for creating a quango has often been a Minister's desire to distance himself from the day-to-day issues for which he might be held accountable if the task remained in his department. Remember the Michael Howard and Derek Lewis row?
See "Read before burning ...." - Institute for Government Looks at how the accountability and effectiveness of quangos might be improved. For a view that "Big Government" is here to stay despite the Spending Review - see here.
See "Read before burning ...." - Institute for Government Looks at how the accountability and effectiveness of quangos might be improved. For a view that "Big Government" is here to stay despite the Spending Review - see here.
- Criminal Cases Review Commission ~ Powers To Investigate ~ Private Members' Bill
The Royal Commission on Criminal Justice reported in 1993 and made a key recommendation that a Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) be created. It was duly created by the Criminal Appeal Act 1995. The present day commission investigates...
- A Most Serious Report
Here is a very serious report - Equality and Human Rights Commission - Preventing deaths in detention of adults with mental health conditions. I wonder whether government will really take very seriously the matter of the deaths of those detained by the...
- The Ian Tomlinson Case - A Manslaughter Prosecution: Victims Commissioner: Fixed Term Parliaments And Other Bills
Politicians at G20 in 2009The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced that there is to be a prosecution for manslaughter in relation to the death of Mr Ian Tomlinson. P.C. Simon Harwood is to be charged. It is a matter of public record...
- A Chief Coroner? Yes, No, Maybe .... !!
Taken overall, the reforms relating to Coroners and Inquests in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 were well-received. A key element of the reforms was that there should be a Chief Coroner for England and Wales. Judge Peter Thornton QC was...
- A Breathtaking Bill Of Which Even Henry Viii Would Have Been Proud ...!
On 28th October, the government's Public Bodies Bill received its first reading in Parliament - actually it has been first introduced via the House of Lords. We all knew that, mainly for economic reasons, a "Bonfire of the Quangos" was being...