Arm’s-length Bodies

Lord Hannan of Kingsclere Excerpts

Thursday 1st May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The noble Baroness raises an interesting point. It is not something that has been brought to my attention before, and I will speak to officials and come back to her. As far as I am aware, this Government want to make sure we have the right people in the right places to deliver what we need. If there has been a slight pause because of the change of Government, that may be one thing, but there is no official policy that I am aware of.

[Lord Hannan of Kingsclere (Con)]

My Lords, my noble friend asked which arm’s-length bodies might be abolished. I am not sure I have heard the Minister answer. Maybe I could suggest one or two off the top of my head. What about Natural England? What about the Arts Council? What about the independent football regulator before it beds down and starts doing damage to our great export trade? How about the big one, the Climate Change Committee?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The noble Lord will not be surprised that I may have anticipated that that question might come from him. Given that he has given me the opportunity to raise the football regulator, I just want to put on record my congratulations to Port Vale on their promotion at the weekend. Many of us support clubs that are not in the Premier League, and there is huge support for the football regulator from grass-roots organisations.

With regard to which arm’s-length bodies will come next, we are asking every government department to review. Given that the Prime Minister made his speech announcing this policy only on 13 March this year, I am delighted that we have already announced the end of NHS England and, this week, the Valuation Office Agency. We are moving faster than the previous Government did and will continue to make sure that we have best value for money.