Ministers consider abolishing hundreds of quangos, sources say

Ministers could introduce legislation to abolish a swathe of quangos in one go as part of the government’s plans to restructure the state and cut thousands more civil service job cuts, the Guardian understands.

Government sources said they were considering a bill that would speed up the reorganisation of more than 300 armslength organisations that between them spend about £353bn of public money.

Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, has written to every Whitehall department asking them to justify each quango or risk them being closed, merged, or having powers brought back into the department.

Ministers will have to demonstrate the necessity of each one, operating under the presumption that these bodies will be affected unless there is compelling justification for their separate existence, sources said.

Keir Starmer told his cabinet last month that they should stop “outsourcing” decisions to regulators and quangos and take more responsibility for their own departments.

NHS England was the first to be scrapped, bringing the health service back under the control of ministers, which they said would avoid duplication, bring greater accountability and save money. More quangos could be identified for abolition as early as this week.

Under the Cabinet Office’s review, quangos with significant powers over policies that are of national importance will be brought back into departments, with expert staff retained to work in these areas, although wider civil service job cuts are expected.

In cases where it is essential that quangos are independent from ministerial decision-making, for example those with a regulatory function or that scrutinise government or protect the rule of law, then these will remain unaffected.

As well as his cuts to quangos, the prime minister is urging departments to make greater use of technology such as artificial intelligence tools to reduce spending and streamline decision-making.

Branded merchandise and staff away-days for civil servants are set to be curbed as part of the government’s crackdown on what it regards as wasteful spending in the civil service, which also included freezing thousands of procurement cards held by officials.

Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect union, said: “Specialist civil servants working around the country in arm’s-length bodies do incredibly important work that is often underappreciated in Westminster. If these functions are to be brought back into central departments then there need to be clear objectives and rationale for doing so.

“Many arm’s-length bodies have advisory roles and important safety functions, which require independence from central government. There must be clarity on how this would be maintained if organisations are merged.

“Above all, any reorganisation must not jeopardise the essential expertise and specialist skills contained within arm’s-length bodies, and must make it easier to recruit and retain the specialists the civil service needs.”