Thursday 18 August 2011

Smoke & Mirrors 'Quango-style'

The Mail has an article that reports three in four quangos are still in existence even though the Coalition promised a 'bonfire' of these quasi-autonomous-non-governmental-organisations. The article notes that last October ministers vowed to save millions by scrapping 192 organisations which carry out unnecessary tasks at vast expense to the taxpayer. They have since raised that number to 200 and that in the ten months since the announcement just 49 have actually been abolished.

In the article, amongst the list of 'whats been spared', are Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) yet these cannot be abolished as as they were created under EU Directives. It is also a fact that the EU requires regional structures, bypassing central government, for administering its discretionary grants (when they give us a bit of our own money back to do something they want us to do). The treaty obligations to do this have not changed. Were the Coalition to move some of the responsibilities of RDAs to other 'bodies' the question remains exactly how do they plan to regionalise England, to keep within the terms of the Maastrict Treaty.

I can but once again refer people to the excellent post by Ian Parker-Joseph on the subject of who is our real government. If one looks at the short list of 'centres' and 'agencies' mentioned, it will be noticed that we in the UK have the regional structures - aka quangos - to administer the grants and as those 'centres' or 'agencies' have to exist it is logical that they can never be culled.

The Coalition may well maintain that a great many were set up by legislation which means they can only be abolished or reformed through legislation and that the Public Bodies Bill is required to deliver the proposed reforms; it may well mean that some quangos will be culled - however it is also unarguable that they will be regurgitated under a new name. In any event, did not Francis Maude state:
"This exercise is not principally about saving money, although it will do so."
The 'quango cull' is just another smoke & mirrors exercise by our political elite that will be anything but a cull. Also consider that Cameron is setting up new quangos - witness the Office for Budget Responsibility, one that, with the economic oversight by the EU of our economy, is a necessary requirement to enable the EU 'guide' our fiscal decisions.

Finally - and as an 'aside' - I welcome the day when our 'democratic revolution' is achieved and we no longer have to look at sneering, smug-faced politicians such as:

5 comments:

john in cheshire said...

"...smug-faced politicians such as:" Mr Maude. Quite.
In the land of the bare-faced liars, the man who only tells white lies will be king. Not a good analogy, but the best I can think of. If only we could produce a politician who only told white lies. And did what he was elected to do.

WitteringsfromWitney said...

jic: Take your point, but I don't want a politician that tells lies - be they white or black.....

Which is why we need to be shot of this lot - and if 'shot' is the appropriate verb, so be it!

john in cheshire said...

WfW, and of course you are correct. But in real life we all (don't we?) tell little white lies. 'You don't look your age', 'I know what you mean', 'I'd really like to stay a while longer but...'.
What is killing our country is the rampant and flagrant telling of lies; it's as though our elite had all been educated in a madrassa on how to implement islam in a kuffar country.

cosmic said...

There's no point in talking about a Bonfire of The QUANGOs, unless you get rid of the functions they were supposed to be discharging. If you don't you are absorbing the functions and staff into civil service departments or rearranging things in some way.

Certainly since WWII the size of the state including QUANGOs has grown relentlessly.

I take it to be one of those things that sounds pretty good and Cameron & Co would like to do but it's too hard to make any real progress.

As for the EU inspired bodies, it's idle to suppose that Cameron in particular would go within a mile of them because that way lies withdrawal from the EU.

WitteringsfromWitney said...

jic: we may, but I don't expect politicians to.....!

c: I don't think Cameron has any intention of doing anything that distances us from the EU and all its ramifications, which is why he and the rest of the 649 (with one or two exceptions) has to go and go now - voluntarily or forcefully, I care not!