Labour’s ‘Bonfire of Quangos’ Lasts Three Days As New ‘Race and Disability’ Body Created
Labour has been making plenty of noise about cutting back the bloated state. Excited briefings that Pat McFadden had written to every department demanding they justify the existence of hundreds of arms-length bodies led to headlines breathlessly reporting that quangos would be cuts, merged, or have their power handed back to ministers. That lofty promises barely lasted a few days…
Labour has now announced plans to create a brand-new equal pay quango, focused on race and disability. The government is now seeking views on the formation of an ‘equal pay regulatory and enforcement unit’ designed to offer “oversight” and “support” for equal pay claims, with the help of trade unions brought into the mix. Equalities Minister Seema Malhotra declared the move essential to “maximise individual opportunity” and ensure “the best person gets the job.” That means that since taking office Labour has created 28 new quangos and scrapped only two. Quite the ‘bonfire’…
UPDATE: Add another – the government says Great British Railways is almost fully approved as an arm’s length body.
Read the full list of Labour-created quangos below:
- Regulatory Innovation Office
- National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority
- Great British Energy
- Mission Control
- National Energy System Operator
- Solar Taskforce
- Border Security Command
- Jet Zero Taskforce
- British Infrastructure Taskforce
- Creative Industries Taskforce
- Circular Economy Taskforce
- Tree Planting Taskforce
- Child Poverty Taskforce
- Flooding Resilience Taskforce
- Motor Insurance Taskforce
- New Towns Taskforce
- Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce
- Skills England
- Industrial Strategy Council
- Passenger Standards Authority
- National Jobs and Careers
- Ethics and Integrity Commissioner
- House of Commons Modernisation Committee
- School Support Staff Negotiating Body
- Independent Football Regulator
- Fair Work Agency
- Defence Innovation Agency
- Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit