3.2: Arm's Length Bodies
Rationalising and reforming arm’s-length bodies (ALBs) to create a simpler, cheaper delivery structure, and improve the services
ALBs are responsible for delivering
Other Information:
Arm’s-length bodies: facts and figures -- There are currently around 750 ALBs sponsored by the UK Government.16 They have
different legal classifications, depending on their organisational form. However, the majority can often more adequately be
described according to their function. Using this categorisation, the Government’s ALBs include the following: • 43 grant-giving
organisations which essentially channel funding to frontline organisations or individuals. Examples include the Higher Education
Funding Council and the regional development agencies • 145 service delivery bodies including Jobcentre Plus and the National
Offender Management Service • 54 regulators, for example Ofsted and the Pensions Regulator • 438 advisory bodies which provide
expert advice across a range of topics, for example the Low Pay Commission • 35 tribunals, which provide an appeal system
against administrative acts or decisions. Examples include the Pensions Ombudsman and the Police Arbitration Tribunal Funding
by the UK Government is approximately £80 billion per year. ALBs employ over 300,000 people, with the largest (by staff numbers)
being Jobcentre Plus (around 80,000) and HM Prison Service (50,000). Actions: rationalising and reforming arm’s-length bodies
-- We will, as a first step, rationalise the ALB landscape, reducing the overall number of bodies by over 120, through: •
Reducing the number of bodies that perform advisory or related functions by 25%, subject to the necessary legislation and
consultation. this will include: abolishing 16 regional advisory committees relating to agricultural workers in england and
the 15 regional committees in england that appoint each of them consulting on rationalising the 101 Advisory Committees on
Justice of the Peace to 49 reducing the number of Court Boards from 23 to 19 in line with new organisational boundaries reducing
the number of separate publicly funded bodies in the skills sector by 30 over the next three years merging the sentencing
guidelines Council and sentencing Advisory Panel into a single sentencing Council, in line with the Coroners and Justice Act
2009 • Reducing the number of bodies whose primary function is service delivery, merging four existing military museums into
the new national Museum of the royal navy • Reducing the number of regulators, merging the Postgraduate Medical education
and training Board with the general Medical Council and abolishing hM inspectorate of Courts Administration. We will publish
proposals in early 2010 to provide a much stricter governance framework for ALBs and their sponsor departments. this will
identify opportunities to save at least £500 million by reducing duplication between organisations and streamlining the AlB
landscape where appropriate. in addition this framework will: • Establish a more rigorous process for setting up ALBs, for
example by requiring any minister proposing a new body to publish a full assessment of why the body is needed and set out
why an AlB is the most effective delivery mechanism • Introduce sunset clauses, requiring all new bodies to have a check-by
date, when they will be subject to a fundamental review that explores whether the organisation is still needed in its current
form • Ensure greater transparency and scrutiny of ALBs, for example by ensuring they publish more data on their performance
and value for money We will extend the Capability Review approach to key ALBs to ensure that we can systematically assess
their capability to meet future delivery challenges.
Indicator(s):
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