HC Deb 28 November 1994 vol 250 cc495-7W
Mr. Sykes

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which quangos his Department has abolished since 1979.

Sir John Wheeler

[holding answer 25 November 1994]: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to Dr. Tony Wright by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 1 February 1994, Official Report, column 611.

In addition to the information in the publications mentioned in that reply the following non-departmental public bodies have ceased to exist since 1986:

1986

  • Charities Advisory Committee

1987

  • Advisory Body on Community Work
  • NI UNESCO Committee
  • Land Law Working Group
  • NI Health and Social Services Council

1988

  • Police Complaints Board—replaced by Independent Commission for Police Complaints for NI
  • Advisory Committee on Teachers Education
  • Therapeutic Paramedical Advisory Committee
  • Medical Boards

1989

  • NI Council for Educational Research
  • NI Business and Technical Education Council
  • NI Council for Educational Development
  • Teachers' Negotiating Machinery Committees—decreased from 4 to 3

1990

  • Further Education Appeals Board
  • NI Schools Examination Council
  • Centre for Learning Resources Management Committee
  • Committee for Nature Conservation*
  • Ulster Countryside Commission*
  • —* combined to become Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside

1991

  • Advisory Board for Postgraduate Awards
  • Committee for Centre for Education Management
  • Council for Continuing Education
  • 5 Industrial Training Boards
  • Manpower Council
  • NI Training Authority—functions were taken over by the Training and Employment Agency
  • Youth Committee for NI—became the Youth Council for NI

1992

  • Road Transport Industry Training Board
  • Textiles Industry Training Board
  • Ulster Savings Committee
  • Accommodation Grants Advisory Committee

1993

  • NI Electricity Board then NI Electricity Plc—now privatised
  • Attendance Allowance Board—replaced by Disability Living
  • Allowance Advisory Board

1994

  • 9 Wage Councils
  • NI Schools Examinations and Assessment Council*
  • NI Curriculum Council1
  • —1 combined to become NI Council for the Curriculum, Examination and Assessment.

Summary data for the years 1979 to 1985 are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Sykes

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many quangos his Department was responsible for(a) in 1979 and (b) in the latest year for which a number is available.

Sir John Wheeler

[holding answer 25 November 1994]: (a) My right hon. and learned Friend was responsible for a total of 132 non-departmental bodies in 1979 as listed in the "Report on Non-Departmental Public Bodies"—Pliatzky Report Cm 7797, January 1980; and

(b) in 1993 he was responsible for 108 non-departmental public bodies as listed in "Public Bodies 1993".