§ Mr. Craigenasked the Prime Minister how many nongovernmental public bodies have been disbanded since the report on non-departmental bodies (Cmnd. 7797) was published; and what have been the savings produced and the costs involved in redundancies and terminated leases by their wind-up.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 February 1982—Vol 18, c.219–232—to my hon. Friend the Member for Carlton (Mr. Holland). In that answer I listed 550 non-departmental public bodies which had been wound up, or which we intend to wind up, or whose budget will be reduced, since this Government took office. Of these, some 428 have been abolished, at a saving of about £15 million, since Cmnd. 7797 was published. Unfortunately, information on the costs of winding up these bodies is not held 132W centrally. However, since almost 90 per cent. were advisory committees with no staff, no redundancy or accommodation costs were involved.