§ Lord Boyd-Carpenterasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it remains their policy to keep the numbers and spending of non-departmental public bodies under tight control; and whether they will ensure that the drive for increased efficiency and effectiveness in the Civil Service is followed through by similar action in public bodies.
The Earl of GowrieYes. We shall continue to keep all non-departmental public bodies under regular scrutiny to ensure that they and their programmes give value for money. We shall resist pressures for new bodies unless we are convinced that a non-departmental body is the most appropriate way to do a particular task. Substantial savings have already been made. Since 1979 we have wound up or substantially reduced the expenditure of nearly 700 such bodies, saving some £118 million a year. But there is more to be done. A recent report by the Cabinet Office/Treasury financial management unit, copies of which have been placed in the Library, shows that some bodies need better systems for defining their objectives, setting targets and assessing achievements.
Over the next two years, therefore, departments will be looking, in collaboration with the management of their sponsored bodies, at the scope for improving management and control systems and practices, with the aim of producing progressive improvements in performance. The main programme of work should be completed by April 1987.