Quangocracy
Think tank: Reform
Author(s): Patrick King; Alice Semark
February 27, 2025
This report from UK think tank Reform looks at the quality of public body oversight and sets out recommendations to strengthen government’s grip on what they deliver.
Public bodies now account for around 60 per cent of day-to-day government spending, providing some of the most important and high-risk services. Despite this, departments are unclear on the power they have over public bodies and the main channels for holding them to account are underpowered, under resourced or simply ineffective.
Reform’s new report, out today, reveals alarming new evidence about the quality of public body oversight, and sets out recommendations to strengthen government’s grip on what they deliver.
With the Government committed to establishing new public bodies and reliant on existing ones to restore economic growth and deliver its five missions, it is vital that the right processes are in place for departments to deliver through public bodies, but also that public bodies are only created where they add genuine value.
