The government’s potential slashing of quangos could have an impact on services for a “public good”, planners have warned.
A leaked document confirms that the Infrastructure Planning Commission, the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit, the eight regional development agencies and the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation are all set to face the axe.
Also believed to be under threat are the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, the Commission for Integrated Transport, the Advisory Panel on Standards for the Planning Inspectorate, British Waterways and the Olympic Park Legacy Company.
The list also includes proposals for a single heritage body which will see English Heritage absorb smaller heritage organisations including the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund. CABE, the Environment Agency, the Homes and Community Agency (HCA) and Natural England are also believed to be under review.
“We have to accept that the state has become bloated and crowding out of the private sector has been one of the consequences,” responded Roger Tym & Partners partner Nora Galley. “But it is worrying when bodies that provide needed services that the market cannot supply are proposed for abolition. British Waterways, for example, looks after the canals, which are a public good. The development corporations are another example,” she added.
Savills planning and regeneration team head Roger Hepher voiced surprise over the proposed abolition of the Olympic Park Legacy Company. “Given that the games will be over in less than two years, it will be important to ensure that effective new arrangements are put in place without delay,” he said, Barton Willmore partner Iain Painting said: “In any review of the HCA, there are key challenges to identify those functions that are essential or desirable to retain and ensure that these are in place to continue delivery.”
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