Are you a 3rd Generation Quango?

By Neil Stewart

I thought we saw in the Editorial Intelligence Insight club debate on “A Bonfire of the Quango’s” the emergence of a 3rd generation of quangos who are more lean and effective, and good enough at what they do that the reform option could be a challenge to the civil service itself – effectively a bonfire in the departments

This was a good debate that did not degenerate into the knockabout that many attendees clearly expected.  It clearly set out what the terms of change and reform might be for quangos, executive agencies and other public bodies if there is a change of government.

The first generation quangos were crudely characterised as creatures of the 60’s and 70’s as extended instruments of the civil service or regulators.  The second generation of Next Steps Agencies and other arms length public bodies were seen as taking significant functions and staff away from the monolithic civil service.  There now looks to be a third generation of quango or executive agency emerging, shaped from mergers of the weaker ones or the proliferation from New Labour, but founded on altogether clearer functions, management discipline and objectives.

The contribution by Peter Neyroud, the Chief Constable of the National Policing Improvement Agency was a powerful assertion of a confident quango, which had absorbed other bodies, had a clear rationale, and was willing to be more accountable, indeed positively aggressive, to take a strong leadership role. It should be required watching at the next management team lunch.

Leadership roles and accountability to democratic bodies was the other strong thread with Douglas Carswell MP at his most robust not just about public bodies but about parliament and its failings in its duties.  He would have annual approval of quango budgets, senior appointment and greater transparency through toughened select committees.  In the networking afterwards in a very mixed audience the support for Carswell’s sentiments (if not always his detail) was very high which might be a warning to public bodies that their current arrangement are not matching expectations.

The Policy Exchange work outlined by Director Neil O’Brien on this should be required reading for useful signs of the tests to which public bodies would be put if the Conservative win power. But also because Conservative are already in power in most of local government and asking the same questions from the bottom up.  Policy Exchange have further work coming on Learning and Skills where “simplification” work is already under way in the UKCES, a Skills White paper is promised by the government and the issue is very hot.

Philip Stephens of the FT forcefully illustrated how many of the apparent absurdities that sometimes emerge from public bodies, did not grow internally but were in fact inflicted by politicians trying to fix a different problem in a different time.

Policy Review was hosting the Editorial Insight Club debate on quangos on Wednesday 9th (follow the article link below to see the video footage) at the QEII conference Centre.  Chaired by the Journalist Martin Bright

www.editorialintelligence.com

To find out more about this article, visit: http://www.policyreview.tv/conf_media/314/free_videos.html

11 September 2009

Neil Stewart. Chair and Chief Executive, Neil Stewart Associates

Neil Stewart is Chairman and Chief Executive of Neil Stewart Associates. Formed 18 years ago the company focuses on advising, devising, and publishing on the government and public policy agenda producing topical policy conferences and undertaking consu