HC Deb 02 December 1999 vol 340 cc328-9W
Mr. Drew

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies were in existence; what was their total annual running cost; how many employees they had; how many board members they had; and how many were in existence per sponsoring department in each of the last five years. [101066]

Mr. Stringer

The number of executive agencies in existence in each of the last five years is as follows:

Year Number of agencies as at 31 December
1994 1104
1995 1111
1996 1131
1997 2142
1998 2142
1 Figure includes HM Customs and Excise and Inland Revenue which are departments operating fully on Next Steps lines.
2 Figure includes HM Customs and Excise, Inland Revenue, Crown Prosecution Service and Serious Fraud Office which are departments operating fully on Next Step lines.

The Next Steps Agencies in Government Review 1995 and 1996, and the Next Steps Report 1997 and 1998, provide details of the total annual running cost and the number of employees for each agency. The Next Steps Agencies in Government Review 1994 also provides details of the number of employees for each agency. Details of the total annual running cost for each agency in existence in 1994 is not centrally held. Executive agencies do not have board members.

The number of non-departmental public bodies in existence in each of the last five years is as follows.

Year Number of NDPBs as at April
1994 1,345
1995 1,227
1996 1,194
1997 1,128
1998 1,073

The Government's annual publication "Public Bodies" for these years provides the relevant details for each body. Copies of these publications are in the Library of the House. "Public Bodies 1999", which is due to be published later this month, will set out the figures for 1999.

£
Value of assets
Land and property
Executive agency In Scotland Total Total assets
Civil Service College 0 8,003,000 9,567,000
Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) 0 0 1,386,000
Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) 0 0 2,560,000
Property Advisers to the Civil Estate (PACE) 699,000 1,683,000 18,667,000
The Buying Agency (TBA) 0 0 527,000
Central Office of Information (COI) 0 0 1,295,000
Total 699,000 9,686,000 34,002,000
PACE: Surplus land and property on the Civil Estate for disposal 2,200,000 52,699,000

The Department is at present implementing resource accounting. Values have been derived from audited accounting information. The first year of published resource accounts will be in respect of 1999–2000.