WIREDGOV

Responding to the Cabinet Office announcement that 192 quangos are to be abolished, Baroness Margaret Eaton, Chairman of the Local Government Association, said:

“Councils have been campaigning for years to cut the number of unaccountable quangos and give local people power over the services that matter to them.

“As we face the toughest spending review in memory it simply isn’t acceptable to have decisions over help for millions of people decided by unelected officials remote from the front line and it is good that Ministers have recognised this.

“There are some sensible decisions here such as putting council trading standards at the centre of enforcing almost all UK consumer law.  Having government recognise officers’ expertise in enforcing important regulatory functions is a clear statement of faith in councils’ ability to deliver.

“However, there are still questions to be answered on the future of education funding quangos and others such as the Homes and Communities Agency.

“The acid test will be whether Ministers allow decisions to be taken at the front line by locally-elected people who know their neighbourhoods best, or simply replace unaccountable quangos with unelected civil servants in Whitehall.

“Our plans for a reformed system to devolve power to local people and give them a real say over the things that matter would save up to £20 billion and help protect frontline services.  Tidying up budgets to simply save a tiny fraction of that is not an option.”

Author: LGA Media Team
Contact: 020 7664 3333