WIREDGOV

The Classification Review of Public Bodies report, published yesterday by the Cabinet Office, is a positive step towards making sense of the jumbled and complex landscape of public bodies in the UK. 

We welcome Cabinet Office Minister Matt Hancock’s statement that “a simpler landscape would promote transparency and accountability and lay the foundation for further transformation”, and his endorsement of “the guiding principle that the classification of a public body should be determined by the degree of freedom it requires”.

We support the move to focus on three main categories of public body: Executive Agency, Executive NDPB and Non-Ministerial Department. While we believe there is a good case for revisiting this unhelpful set of names to provide more clarity on the function and relationship of these bodies to government, the immediate priority must be to ensure that like-bodies, performing like-functions, are treated in the same way. Changes along these lines were proposed in one of the IfG’s first publications in 2010, Read Before Burning.

Commenting on the report, IfG programme director Jill Rutter said:

“We very much welcome the Government’s recognition of the importance of a principled and consistent approach to arm’s length bodies, for which we have long argued. We agree that this will be an important step in promoting transparency and accountability. The important thing now is that these principles are accepted and adhered to across government.”