§ Lord Denningasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether Secretaries of State have established executive agencies for the carrying out of some of their functions and whether these agencies have been set up under Act of Parliament or by administrative direction, as, for instance, the Planning Inspectorate at Bristol under the Town and Country Planning Act.
§ Baroness BlatchThere are currently 110 executive agencies established under the Next Steps programme. Agencies are established as a matter of departmental organisation by the Minister who heads the parent department and who is responsible for the function; and 143WA each remains part of a government department or a department in its own right. In addition, the Inland Revenue has established 29 Executive Offices and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise has established 23 Executive Units, which operate on Next Steps Lines. The aim of the Next Steps programme is to improve the management and the performance of government functions, including in some cases, those with a statutory basis, such as those carried out by the Planning Inspectorate under the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act. The Planning Inspectorate was established as an executive agency in 1992.
The 110 agencies are listed below, under the Minister to whom they are accountable.
Lord Chancellor
- Court Service
- HM Land Registry (1)
- Public Record Office (1)
- Public Trust Office
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Wilton Park
Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Central Statistical Office (1)
- HM Customs and Excise (2)
- Inland Revenue (2)
- PAYMASTER (1)
- Royal Mint (1)
- Valuation Office
Secretary of State for the Home Department
- Fire Service College
- Forensic Science Service
- HM Prison Service
- United Kingdom Passport Agency
President of the Board of Trade
- Companies House
- Insolvency Service
- Laboratory of the Government Chemist
- National Weights and Measures Laboratory
- NEL
- Patent Office
- Radiocommunications Agency
Secretary of State for Transport
144WA
- COASTGUARD
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
- Driving Standards Agency
- Highways Agency
- Marine Safety Agency
- Transport Research Laboratory
- Vehicle Certification Agency
- Vehicle Inspectorate
Secretary of State for Defence
- Army Base Repair Organisation
- Army Base Storage and Distribution Agency
- Army Technical Services Agency
- Defence Accounts Agency
- Defence Analytical Services Agency
- Defence Animal Centre
- Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency
- Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
- Defence Postal and Courier Services
- Defence Transport and Movements Executive
- Disposal Sales Agency
- Duke of York's Royal Military School
- Hydrographic Office
- Logistic Information Systems Agency
- Meteorological Office
- Military Survey
- Naval Aircraft Repair Organisation
- Naval Recruiting and Training Agency
- Queen Victoria School
- RAF Maintenance Group Defence Agency
- RAF Signals Engineering Establishment
- RAF Training Group Defence Agency
- Service Children's Schools (North West Europe)
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
- ADAS(3)
- Central Science Laboratory
- Intervention Board (1) (4)
- Meat Hygiene Service
- Pesticides Safety Directorate
- Veterinary Laboratories Agency
- Veterinary Medicines Directorate
Secretary of State for National Heritage
- Historic Royal Palaces Agency
- Royal Parks Agency
Secretary of State for the Environment
- Building Research Establishment
- Ordnance Survey (1)
- Planning Inspectorate (5)
- Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
- Security Facilities Executive
- The Buying Agency
Secretary of State for Wales
- Cadw (Welsh Historic Monuments)
Secretary of State for Social Security
- Social Security Benefits Agency
- Social Security Child Support Agency
- Social Security Contributions Agency
- Social Security Information Technology Support Agency
- Social Security Resettlement Agency
WA 145 - Social Security War Pensions Agency
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Central Office of Information (1)
- Chessington Computer Centre
- Civil Service College
- HMSO (1)
- Occupational Health and Safety Agency
- Recruitment and Assessment Services Agency
Secretary of State for Scotland
- Historic Scotland
- Registers of Scotland (1)
- Scottish Agricultural Science Agency
- Scottish Court Service
- Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency
- Scottish Office Pensions Agency
- Scottish Prison Service
- Scottish Record Office (1)
- Student Awards Agency for Scotland
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Compensation Agency
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing (NI)
- Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency
- Forensic Science Agency of Northern Ireland
- Industrial Research and Technology Unit
- Northern Ireland Child Support Agency
- Northern Ireland Health and Social Services
- Estates Agency
- Northern Ireland Prison Service
- Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland
- Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
- Rate Collection Agency
- Social Security Agency (NI)
- Training and Employment Agency (NI)
- Valuation and Lands Agency
Secretary of State for Education and Employment
- Employment Service
- Teachers' Pensions Agency
Secretary of State for Health
- Medical Devices Agency
- Medicines Control Agency
- NHS Estates
- NHS Pensions Agency
Attorney General
- Government Property Lawyers
- Minister for Overseas Development
- Natural Resources Institute
Footnotes
- (1) Agencies that are government departments.
- (2) Government department operating fully on Next Steps lines.
WA 146 - (3) The Secretary of State for Wales is responsible for ADAS in Wales.
- (4) The Secretaries of State for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are responsible for the Intervention Board in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
- (5) The Secretary of State for Wales is responsible for the Planning Inspectorate in Wales.