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The government has announced it is backing down on legislation in the Public Bodies Bill that would have given ministers wide-ranging powers to merge or abolish quangos.

The Institute for Government's briefing note about the Public Bodies Bill (PDF, 70KB) expressed serious concerns about Schedule 7 of the Bill. This gave ministers the power to merge or abolish or modify 150 quangos that operated at arm's length from government.

The recommendations in the Institute for Government's report Read Before Burning set out the why the whole landscape of  quangos was muddled and needed to be more logically classified so that  for example public bodies that were set up to be independent of government were clearly identified.

Andrew Adonis comments

Commenting on the government decision last night, Andrew Adonis, Director of the Institute for Government said:

"The Government has done the right thing in withdrawing entirely the most controversial section of the Public Bodies Bill, which would have allowed ministers, by mere order, to abolish or modify 150 major public bodies, including Channel Four, the Health and Safety Executive and the Committee on Climate Change.

"This is a major victory for parliamentary scrutiny and accountability – and a wise move on the part of Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, who might otherwise have faced the potential loss of the whole bill, which includes powers to abolish or reform quangos where there is a consensus for change.

"The government has listened to the concerns expressed across the House of Lords, and beyond, and taken sensible account of them."

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