News In Focus
9 February 2010
Call for an end to quangos
Virtually all of Scotland’s quangos should be scrapped in an attempt to drive transparent and accountable government, according to the economic think-tank Reform Scotland.
The organisation said too much power was wielded by the 115 quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations that account for 43% of Scottish Government spending, and their responsibilities should either be brought back under the control of the Government or given to fully independent bodies.
In a report published today, Reform Scotland said agencies such as Scottish Enterprise and VisitScotland should be under the direct control of ministers, with some powers devolved further down to local authorities.
It said some agencies, such as National Museums of Scotland, should be granted full independence and operate under a formal contract with the Government to provide public services for a fixed settlement. Reform Scotland said this approach would offer the public more transparency on what such organisations were expected to achieve.
Reform Scotland director Geoff Mawdlsey said the problem with quangos was not what they did but the way they did it. "The way that they do it, in our opinion, leads to less-good government and serves to undermine that direct accountability.
"The past attempts – bonfire of the quangos, etc – have failed to get to the root of the problem. They have looked at how can we reduce the numbers, how can we reduce a bit of spending here and there, instead of saying 'there is a fundamental problem inherent in quangos and that is what we have to address'."
A Scottish Government spokesman said the Public Services Reform Bill would cut the number of quangos by a quarter.