Big society blog: Quango quango

26 Jul 2010 Voices

Gordon Hunter reveals the vastness of the quango pot as he asks: what could you do with the money at grassroots level?

Gordon Hunter reveals the vastness of the quango pot as he asks: what could you do with the money at grassroots level?

In contrast to the rapidly reducing public services contract pot, listed below is just a sample of the UK's many quangos (all over £1m pa income; all rounded to the nearest million - what's a few hundred thousand at this level?).

They represent over £26bn worth of annual spend.

Now just think what we could do at grassroots level in, for instance, Lincolnshire with our share (£430mn a year) of the quango pot?

Compact Commission (£2m); Regional Development Agencies (£1.85bn); Business Council for Britain (2m); Local Goverment Improvement Agency & theLeadership Board (£15m); Local Better Regulation Office (£4m); British Educational Communications &Technology Agency (£55m); National College for School Leadership (£111m); Partnership for Schools (£32m); Qualifications & Curriculum Development Authority (£144m); General Teaching Council for England (£21m);School Food Trust (£11m); Children's Workforce Development Council (£77m); Community Development Foundation (£2m); Firebuy (£2m); Homes & Communities Agency (£3.9 billion); National Housing & Planning Advice Unit (£1m); Standards Board for England (£8m); Commission for Architecture & the Built Environment (£20m); English Heritage (£129m); Football Licensing Authority (£1m); Museums, Libraries & Archives Council (£15m); Sports England(£130m); UK Sport (£72m); UK Film Council (£30m); Visit Britain (£50m); Committee on Climate Change (£2m); Commission for Rural Communities (£7m); Environment Agency (£774m); Food from Britain (£4m); Sustainable Development Commission (£3m); Research Councils (£2.5 billion); Learning & Skills Councils (£11.9 billion); Science & Technology Facilities Council (£682m); Student Loans Company (£88m); Technology Strategy Board (£222m); UK Commission for Employment and Skills (£67m); Passenger Focus (£8m); Child Maintenance & Enforcement Commission (£601m); Health & Safety Executive (£210m); Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (£11m); Appointments Commission (£4m); Care Quality Commission (£2m); Commission for Social Care Inspection (£65m); General Social Care Council (£40m); Health Protection Agency (£156m); Healthcare Commission (£61m); Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (£2m); Human Tissue Authority (£2m); Institiute for Innovation & Improvement (£82m); Export Credits Guarantee Department (£48M); Food Standards Agency (£134m); Westminster Foundation for Democracy (£4m); Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission (£2m); British Council (£198m); Statistics Authority (£313m); National Policing Improvement Agency (£535m); Administrative Justice Tribunal (£1m); Law Commission (£4m); Legal Services Commission (£129m); Youth Justice Board (£518m); Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (£6m); Electoral Commission (£24m); Independent Safeguarding Authority (£13m).

Gordon Hunter is the founder and director of the Lincolnshire Community Foundation

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