Speaking at his last official appearance as the minister for civil society, Nick Hurd has said that public body reform has not gone far enough in terms of transparency.
Hurd announced he was stepping down two hours after giving evidence at a Public Administration Select Committee meeting on the accountability of quangos and public bodies.
Speaking at the meeting he said: “After just three and a half years we are just not where we need to be in terms of changing the culture around transparency but the triennial reviews are an opportunity to push harder, which we will do.”
He made these comments in response to the PASC chair Bernard Jenkin's assertion that transparency within public bodies is declining.
Jenkins said that in 2012/13, 63 per cent of non-departmental public bodies published an official annual report, which is the same as last year. However 40 per cent made their public meetings available which is down on the previous year and only 19 per cent had their board meetings open to the public which is again down on the previous year.
He added that only 14 per cent of non-departmental public bodies complied with all three stipulations, which is down on last year and the number that complied with none of them remained the same at 23 per cent.
Hurd said the government will build into the triennial review process a greater focus on transparency.
Triennial review reports are reviews to ensure that non-departmental public bodies are still needed and are complying with principles of good corporate governance.
Hurd also stated the need for more diversity among chairs of public bodies. He told the panel that public bodies are too complacent when making reappointments, and there should be more of a move to get new people in, with priority given to getting a more diverse range of people without sacrificing talent.
Hurd said of public body reform: “Our view is that we have had our heads in three and a half years of very intense radical reform of a system that had drifted hopelessly in the wrong direction in terms of waste, duplication and inefficiency.”
Jenkin said that the involvement of the Cabinet Office in appointing chairs impacts on their independence as they are accountable to the people who would reappoint them. He added that there is “too much control over what are supposed to be arms-length bodies”.
At the end of the hearing, Jenkin asked Hurd how much of his time was spent on public bodies, to which he replied “a lot less time than on civil society”.
Jenkins stated his “dissatisfaction” that the minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, did not attend the hearing.
