Government set to slash £600m from quangos

The Government has unveiled plans to shave £600m from the cost of quangos as Chancellor George Osborne announced a package to cut spending by £6.2b.

However, a Treasury document detailing the cuts published today gave little detail on whether local tourism boards would suffer. Meanwhile there was no more detail on the School Food Trust, which looks set to undergo heavy cuts.

The document revealed that the Department for Culture, Olympics Media and Sport would have to save £88m in 2010/11, including a £27m saving from the budget for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).

Meanwhile, Regional Development Agencies, which are intended to help support private businesses in their regions, are scheduled for a £270m cut on spending, with the bulk of that expected to come in the South and South-east.

But there was good news for apprenticeships, which are set to benefit from an extra £200m in Government spending, despite £900m-worth of cuts in the Business, Innovation and Skills, the Government department which oversees them.

The main areas targeted for cuts are:

● £1.15b in "discretionary" areas such as consultancy and travel costs
● £95m through savings in IT spending
● £1.7b will be saved in delaying or stopping government contracts and projects
● Reductions in property costs will save £170m
● More than £120m expected to be found through a freeze in civil service recruitment
● £600m by cutting the cost of quangos
● £520m will be saved through other low-value spending

The savings expected on a department-by-department basis are:

● Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: £836m
● Department for Communities and Local Government: £780m
● Department for Transport: £683m
● Department for Education: £670m
● Department for Work and Pensions: £535m
● Her Majesty's Treasury: £451m
● Local Goverment: £405m
● Home Office: £367m
● Ministry of Justice: £325m
● Devolved administrations: £704m
● Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: £162m
● Department of Energy and Climate Change: £85m
● Department for Culture, Media and Sport: £88m (including a £27m cut for the ODA)
● Cabinet Office: £79m
● Foreign and Commonwealth Office: £55m
● Law Officers' Department: £18m

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By Neil Gerrard

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