David Amess
Main Page: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)Department Debates - View all David Amess's debates with the Cabinet Office
(14 years, 2 months ago)
Commons Chamber9. What mechanisms he plans to use to review the effectiveness of non-departmental public bodies.
10. What mechanisms he plans to use to review the effectiveness of non-departmental public bodies.
We are committed to cutting the number of public bodies to increase accountability and cut costs. In future, each public body will have to meet one of three tests—does it perform a technical function, does it need to be politically impartial or does it act independently to establish facts? The Prime Minister has written to Cabinet colleagues asking them to apply those tests rigorously to the public bodies within their area of responsibility. I will be meeting colleagues in the coming weeks to take the review forward, and I expect to publish the outcome in the autumn with a view to introducing a public bodies Bill later this year.
In addition to applying rigorously to existing public bodies and quangos the three tests that we have set out, we will ensure that public bodies do not come into existence unless they are absolutely necessary to meet one of those three tests. Bodies that spend public money and deliberate on policy should in general be accountable, through Ministers, to Parliament. That is a basic principle, and that is what we will enforce in future.