Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, today summarised plans to substantially reform a large number of public bodies and also announced further proposals including: British Waterways will move from being a Public Corporation to a charitable body within civil society by April 2012, and the Environment Agency and Natural England will transform them into leaner, more efficient front line delivery bodies, stopping policy-making and lobbying.
Defra, like all other departments, has been examining its network of arm’s-length bodies (ALBs) to increase accountability, improve efficiency and reduce their number and cost. Defra had previously announced proposals regarding the future of more than 30 bodies in the summer, including the Commission for Rural Communities and the Sustainable Development Commission. Decisions on the rest of Defra’s arm’s length bodies have been published today.
The intention of Ministers is to simplify the ALB landscape, both for the department and its customers, and increase transparency and accountability. This includes restructuring the provision of scientific advice and a number of existing advisory bodies will be replaced as new arrangements are made.
The following changes to Defra’s public bodies have been announced today:
British Waterways will move from being a Public Corporation to a charitable body within civil society by April 2012. This decision reflects our confidence in British Waterways to work with local communities and others to build a sustainable future for the waterways under a charitable model. The move will give waterways’ users and the communities that live alongside a greater involvement in how they are managed and improve the long term financial sustainability of the waterways.
Defra has been working closely with its largest environmental arm’s length bodies – the Environment Agency and Natural England – to ensure a radical and comprehensive package of measures which will transform them into leaner, more efficient front line delivery bodies focused strongly on the Government’s ambitions for the environment and the green economy.
There will be significant change across the organisations, to create a new delivery model that is the most effective and cost-efficient way to deliver, and exert leverage, in support of the Government’s objectives. Both Environment Agency and Natural England will:
* dramatically reduce their back office costs while keeping to the minimum possible reductions in delivery;
* work more closely with other arm’s length bodies to eliminate any duplication in the work they carry out;
* implement demonstrable culture change and lead on innovative new ways of working which embrace Localism, Big Society and an improved customer focus;
* stop activity that Government does not need to do
* stop policy making and lobbying activities.
We are going to abolish the statutory requirement for a number of the Environment Agency and Forestry Commission England’s regional advisory committees to ensure that we have the flexibility and level of local engagement we need. These committees will be replaced by non-statutory advisory groups, with scope to provide expert local advice where required. The new framework will be designed in close consultation with the existing committees and others to ensure the benefits of the current approach are not lost in transition. A defunct statutory committee, the Home Grown Timber Advisory Committee, will also be abolished. These changes will not affect the Environment Agency’s Regional Flood Defence Committees.
The Welsh Assembly Government is considering moving Environment Agency Wales and Forestry Commission Wales to form part of a Welsh Assembly Government Environmental Body.
The Forestry Commission will be retained. The Government’s Strategic approach to forestry in England will be set out later in the Autumn when the Secretary of State intends to consult widely on proposals for reform. The Home Grown Timber Advisory Committee (HGTAC) will be abolished in law as it no longer meets.
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board will be retained and discussions with industry about its future will be initiated, including looking at non-public sector options.
Science and advisory bodies
Recognising their excellent work for Defra, the department has reviewed the role and functions of its scientific and technical advisory bodies to determine the scope for rationalisation where it is relevant and appropriate to do so. The number of Defra’s scientific and technical advisory NDPBs is to be reduced significantly, with the majority of them becoming expert committees to the department. This will improve transparency and accountability, provide for stronger co-ordination whilst allowing Defra to have continued access to independent, authoritative and cost-effective advice to support its policies.
Defra’s Science Advisory Council will be retained as an NDPB, and will support the CSA in oversight of all relevant Defra scientific committees. It will continue to provide independent advice and challenge to the Chief Scientific Adviser and Ministers on the science underpinning a range of Defra policies. Defra will also retain the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment and the Veterinary Products Committee as arm’s length bodies.
The following public bodies will be reconstituted as Expert Committees: Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances, Advisory Committee on Packaging, Advisory Committee on Pesticides, Air Quality Expert Group, Darwin Advisory Committee, Farm Animal Welfare Council, National Standing Committee on Farm Animal Genetic Resources, Pesticide Residues Committee, the Veterinary Residues Committee and the Zoos Forum.
The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee will be abolished and its functions transferred to the Department of Health to ensure closer working with the relevant committees on public health.
The Advisory Committee on Organic Standards will be abolished as it is no longer the competent UK authority advising on organic control bodies’ compliance with EU law on organic production. Defra, with the agreement of the Devolved Administrations, is now the competent authority managing organic control bodies. The Animal Health and Welfare Strategy England Implementation Group and Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards have already been dissolved.
Defra is also currently reviewing the scope to transfer functions from a number of its tribunals into the Ministry of Justice’s tribunal service.
Defra has also been considering reforms to Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) which have a different status to the other bodies considered in this review. IDBs will be reformed to improve efficiency and accountability, simplify procedures, and to lay the foundations for these bodies to have a continuing and potentially wider role in their local communities.
The Secretary of State, Ministers and Defra’s Management Board have been working with Defra’s family of delivery bodies to identify how savings can be made while maintaining spending on priority areas. The outcome of the Spending Review will be announced on 20 October and at that point we will be able to confirm further details on Defra’s plans for 2011 – 2015.
Defra will continue to look closely at its network of arm’s length bodies and further changes may be required in light of the spending review and for those bodies highlighted as currently being under consideration. We will also be working to implement the changes to our arm’s length bodies carefully and in an orderly fashion.
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