TOP 100 ENGLAND SITES
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| Child deaths were 'unpreventable' The deaths of two children who were murdered by their father in Manchester could not have been predicted or prevented, a report finds. bbc.co.uk |
Quango cull must lead to greater transparency | Gaby Hinsliff The government was right to examine quangos β but we need to know politicians have the courage to rise above vested interestsI say tomato, you say tomayto. I say potato, you say let's abolish the British Potato Council and spend the savings on β¦ ah. Judging by today's great quango cull, hacking back the unloved tentacles of a supposedly bloated, spendthrift state has proved neither as easy nor as lucrative as hoped. The bonfire of red tape is a surprisingly modest conflagration, which the (mainly industry-funded) potato people will survive.Yes, 192 out of 901 bodies will go: individual tragedies for all those taking a P45 home to their families. More jobs will go in the 289 bodies reformed or merged. But boasts of multimillion-pound savings have given way to claims that culling quangocrats is really about democratic accountability β a sign the financial case may not have quite stacked up.The review confirms many quangos fulfil such necessary functions β chasing up child maintenance payments, say β that they can't be scrapped. They can return unto the Whitehall departments from whence they sprang, with some back-office savings, but many of those now on the payroll will stay β albeit at new desks. Redundancy payments and other winding-up costs will erode savings even from bodies completely abolished.Hence Francis Maude this morning defended the cull on ideological rather than financial grounds. In fairness to Maude, this is a respectable argument, albeit not the one the coalition started with. Waste is a subjective issue, in that deciding what is unnecessary involves deciding what's vital and valuable: it reflects views of the appropriate size and cost of the state. It's silly to pretend these are not ideological questions.Maude is also right that elected ministers should not devolve controversial decisions out of squeamishness β although I note the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, set up so health ministers wouldn't have to take flak about merging hospitals in their own or colleagues' constituencies, stays. Politicians should have the courage to rise above vested interests.The unanswered question is what will happen when they don't. Many quangos sprang from political failure: the (reprieved) Food Standards Authority, for example, was a response to the collapse in public trust triggered by the badly handled BSE crisis. The reason the chief medical officer, not a minister, fronted the MMR vaccination debate was not just clinical knowledge but the fact that he was more trusted by parents, precisely because he wasn't a politician.What's unclear is how, when arm's length bodies vanish into Whitehall anonymity β and many independent scientific advisory bodies, including the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, will become departmental committees β everyone can be sure they're free from political and industry pressure.For democratic accountability is also served by external bodies empowered (like the children's commissioner and immigration services commissioner, both still under review) to challenge elected politicians. Until parliament functions better as a check on the executive, this isn't time or money wasted.This government was right to examine quangos: if we can't afford universal child benefit, we can't afford committees advising on what wine to buy for government cellars (although if governments want drinks parties, somebody must buy drink). But the jury's out on claims of greater transparency β at least until the coalition offers broader plans to challenge and scrutinise itself.QuangosPublic sector cutsGaby Hinsliffguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Councils 'to lose 100,000 jobs' The chairman of the Local Government Association says an estimated 100,000 jobs in local authorities will go as a result of spending cuts. bbc.co.uk |
One in five use birthday as PIN number Nearly one in five card users choose their birthday date as their PIN number, research indicates. telegraph.co.uk |
Newspaper review Wikileaks bombshell stuns press bbc.co.uk |