The Conservative party’s pledge to axe 168 quangos should it win the forthcoming election has been met with derision from the housing sector.

The party announced last Thursday that the ODPM-sponsored regional assemblies, regional housing boards and the Government Office for London would be among the quangos set for abolition as part of a £4.3bn cost-cutting proposal.

The Tories would also scrap the South East Regional Assembly and reduce the powers of the remaining seven assemblies by limiting their planning capabilities and capping their funding, in favour of transferring functions to local authorities.

The announcement follows the party’s plans, unveiled last week, to save £2.3bn by abolishing the ODPM, the Communities Plan and Audit Commission inspections (HT 14 January, page 10).

John Redwood, shadow secretary of state for deregulation, said: “Accountability will be our watchword, with elected representatives in charge, not unelected quangos.”

But Richard Kemp, Liverpool Liberal Democrat councillor and chair of Plus Housing Group said: “Although I agree that there are too many quangos and that there are savings to be made, the Tories simply don’t understand what they are and how they work. How do they expect us to plan at a regional level without regional bodies? They clearly have no clue about what they’re doing.”

Source

Housing Today

Postscript

The Commission on London Governance is to look at quangos in an attempt to improve how the capital is run. The commission, which was set up jointly by the Association of London Government and the London Assembly last month, will report at the end of the year.