Quango reform: the next steps?

Abstract

The coalition government elected in 2010 in the UK pursued a programme of quango reform focused on reducing the number and expenditure of arm’s-length bodies, increasing transparency, improving accountability and maximizing efficiency and effectiveness. This paper revisits Flinders and Skelcher’s 2012 PMM paper ‘Shrinking the quango state: five challenges in reforming quangos’ to assess progress to date and consider future challenges. Drawing insights from the UK programme of quango reform, as well as similar developments in Ireland, the authors identify five new challenges for governments: regulating, managing, reconciling, co-ordinating and reflecting.

Keywords:

• Government
• Ireland
• quango
• reform
• UK

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of British Academy Grant R/138882.

Notes

* *The term ‘quango’ is utilized here interchangeably with ‘public body’ and ‘agency’—while there is much terminological debate, quangos refer to bodies operating outside of departmental structures.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katharine Dommett

Katharine Dommett is a lecturer in the public understanding of politics at the University of Sheffield, UK.

Muiris MacCarthaigh

Muiris MacCarthaigh is a lecturer in politics and public administration at Queen’s University Belfast, UK.