Latest news with #quango
Telegraph
15-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
SNP quango ‘promotes surgery to cut size of male breasts'
The SNP's public sector is so 'bloated' that it includes a quango that promotes male breast-reduction surgery, the Scottish Tory leader has alleged. Russell Findlay highlighted the inclusion of a body called This is Remarkable Ltd in the Scottish Government's current directory of public organisations. Its website features blog posts on rhinoplasty and guides on the best vaping liquids and male breast-reduction clinics in South Korea. The company is currently in liquidation and has not filed accounts since 2022. However, the website contains a contact address in Bali. Mr Findlay cited it as evidence that the SNP does 'not even know where their money is going' and argued that Scottish Government bodies should not be focused on 'reducing the size of moobs '. His intervention came after he used his speech to the Scottish Tory conference on Saturday to unveil plans for a taxpayer savings act to rein in wasteful public spending and slash bureaucracy. The legislation would cut the number of quangos by a quarter, bring business leaders into government to identify savings and cut red tape in the NHS and other bodies. 'Ineffective, bloated state' The £650 million of savings would be used to deliver income tax cuts worth an average of £444 per worker. Around 600,000 people are employed in Scotland's public sector, making up 22 per cent of the total workforce, compared to about 17 per cent in the UK as a whole. They are also paid on average £2,400 per year more north of the Border. Mr Findlay told BBC Scotland's Sunday Show: 'The size of the state under the SNP has grown to an extremely ineffective, bloated state. It costs far too much money. 'The hard-working taxpayers are paying for all that. Just today, I was looking at the list of government agencies and quangos on the Government's official website, and there was a link taking you to an entity that is offering those jobs and male breast-reduction surgery. 'You know, I believe the Scottish Government should be focused on cutting waste, reducing waste – not reducing the size of moobs. The Government do not even know where their money is going. It is obscene.' The Tories said he was referring to This is Remarkable Ltd, which was included in the Scottish Government's most recent directory of public bodies, published on March 27 this year. The firm was previously known as Investors in People Scotland before it rebranded in 2017. Liquidators were appointed in December 2022. 'Ridiculous waste of money' The firm's last set of accounts highlighted a difficult financial situation, with the company's turnover falling from £2.1 million to £1.4 million. One blog on its website lists the best gynecomastia clinics providing male breast surgery in South Korea this year. Mr Findlay also criticised £4 million a year being given to Criminal Justice Scotland, which he said published guidance on avoiding the word 'criminal' due to concerns over stigma. 'Some of the things it promotes is policing of language. It tells the public they should not call criminals criminals. This is just a ridiculous waste of money,' he said. He said 5,500 public sector workers in Scotland were earning over £130,000 a year and John Swinney, First Minister, could not 'put his hand on heart' and say 'every one of these jobs actually delivers for the taxpayer'. A Scottish government spokesman said: 'This week we will unveil our public service reform strategy, which will focus on driving efficiencies, integration and a shift to prevention. 'This is Remarkable Ltd – previously known as Investors in People Scotland – was an agency that focused on support for business and employee engagement. It has ceased operating and it will be removed from the list of public bodies.'
Irish Times
13-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
‘Quango Cull': Almost as many State agencies now as in aftermath of financial crash
The total number of State agencies has almost returned to the peak it reached before a so-called 'quango cull' was announced following the 2008 financial crash, information released by Government departments shows. A 'quango' is typically defined as an organisation to which Government departments have devolved some degree of responsibility, and which are, in most cases, funded by the State. Certain agencies, such as AirNav Ireland, Coimisiún na Meán, and the Home Building Finance Agency are self-financing and do not receive funding from the State. When in opposition in the run-up to the 2011 general election, Fine Gael promised a 'quango cull' and a 'burning of the quangos', believing there to be far too many in the State. There were almost 300 such agencies by the time tough austerity measures were announced in 2010. READ MORE A subsequent 2016 review by Dr Richard Boyle for the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) found a net total of 37 agencies had been abolished in the interim. Although 62 had been shut down in total, 25 new agencies were established over the five-year period. [ Vow to scrap quangos unashamedly populist Opens in new window ] Of the 62 abolished, just 10 ceased to exist entirely. The other 52 were either merged with another organisation or combined to create new bodies. However, newly released information shows at least 33 new quangos will have been created between the end of 2015 and the end of 2025. At least four more – including AirNav Ireland, which provides air traffic management – have directly replaced another agency. In replies to parliamentary questions submitted by Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness , 14 of the 15 Government departments disclosed new quangos established since 2015 (the Department of Health was not in a position to provide the information requested). The information supplied showed a total of 33 have been created, or planned, across the 15 departments, in addition to four that have been renamed or had their role expanded (including Coimisiún na Meán , the broadcasting and online media regulator, and AirNav Ireland). The Department of Justice has established the largest number of new agencies with 10 quangos introduced since 2015. They include Cuan (set up in 2024), the agency that deals with domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Other new agencies established under the Justice umbrella include the Independent Examiner of Security Legislation, which reviews the effectiveness of related laws; the Office for Community Safety; the Judicial Council; the Legal Services Regulatory Authority; and the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland. While the department could not provide information, several large agencies have been established in the health sector. They include Children's Health Ireland (CHI) and the Decision Support Service. Two more – a pandemic and emerging threats agency, and the Assisted Human Reproduction Regulatory Authority – are proposed by the end of 2025. Other significant agencies created in the past decade include An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority and Home Building Finance Ireland. Despite its early objection to 'quangos', Fine Gael's post-2011 coalition with Labour saw a more modest reduction, with an estimated 13 per cent of agencies abolished during that government's term in office. Details of more recent agencies were furnished in replies to a series of parliamentary questions tabled by Mr McGuinness who noted that during his time chairing the Public Accounts Committee, it had been difficult to establish how many there were. 'Many of these quangos are getting enormous amounts of money and because they are one step removed from the department, there is not a direct route to audit their finances by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG),' he said. 'The so-called burning of the quangos never happened. It's hard to see how many of them are adhering to good practices in terms of governance, as they are not subject to the same scrutiny as Government departments. 'We need legislative change to make the C&AG responsible for all those agencies,' he said.
Irish Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
`Quango Cull' - almost as many State agencies now as in aftermath of financial crash
The total number of State agencies has almost returned to the peak it reached before a so-called 'quango cull' was announced following the 2008 financial crash, information released by Government departments shows. A 'quango' is typically defined as an organisation to which Government departments have devolved some degree of responsibility, and which are funded by the State. When in opposition in the run-up to the 2011 general election, Fine Gael promised a 'quango cull' and a 'burning of the quangos', believing there to be far too many in the State. There were almost 300 such agencies by the time tough austerity measures were announced in 2010. READ MORE A subsequent 2016 review by Dr Richard Boyle for the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) found a net total of 37 agencies had been abolished in the interim. Although 62 had been shut down in total, 25 new agencies were established over the five-year period. [ Vow to scrap quangos unashamedly populist Opens in new window ] Of the 62 abolished, just 10 ceased to exist entirely. The other 52 were either merged with another organisation or combined to create new bodies. However, newly released information shows at least 33 new quangos will have been created between the end of 2015 and the end of 2025. At least four more – including AirNav Ireland, which provides air traffic management – have directly replaced another agency. In replies to parliamentary questions submitted by Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness , 14 of the 15 Government departments disclosed new quangos established since 2015 (the Department of Health was not in a position to provide the information requested). The information supplied showed a total of 33 have been created, or planned, across the 15 departments, in addition to four that have been renamed or had their role expanded (including Coimisiún na Meán , the broadcasting and online media regulator, and AirNav Ireland). The Department of Justice has established the largest number of new agencies with 10 quangos introduced since 2015. They include Cuan (set up in 2024), the agency that deals with domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Other new agencies established under the Justice umbrella include the Independent Examiner of Security Legislation, which reviews the effectiveness of related laws; the Office for Community Safety; the Judicial Council; the Legal Services Regulatory Authority; and the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland. While the department could not provide information, several large agencies have been established in the health sector. They include Children's Health Ireland (CHI) and the Decision Support Service. Two more – a pandemic and emerging threats agency, and the Assisted Human Reproduction Regulatory Authority – are proposed by the end of 2025. Other significant agencies created in the past decade include An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority and Home Building Finance Ireland. Despite its early objection to 'quangos', Fine Gael's post-2011 coalition with Labour saw a more modest reduction, with an estimated 13 per cent of agencies abolished during that government's term in office. Details of more recent agencies were furnished in replies to a series of parliamentary questions tabled by Mr McGuinness who noted that during his time chairing the Public Accounts Committee, it had been difficult to establish how many there were. 'Many of these quangos are getting enormous amounts of money and because they are one step removed from the department, there is not a direct route to audit their finances by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG),' he said. 'The so-called burning of the quangos never happened. It's hard to see how many of them are adhering to good practices in terms of governance, as they are not subject to the same scrutiny as Government departments. 'We need legislative change to make the C&AG responsible for all those agencies,' he said.
Daily Mail
16-05-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Water bosses are paid a fortune, but they've left us high and dry
You can't blame people up and down Scotland for basking in this sustained period of sunshine. After all, we're often used to digging out the big coat at this time of year, rather than putting on shorts. However, as a sheep farmer, I have a note of caution to those who want this weather to last indefinitely. Prolonged periods of warm weather are not very good for our farms and for crop production. Reading headlines in the middle of May, such as every part of Scotland facing water scarcity, is quite extraordinary. We are in our driest period in 60 years, so I get why Scottish Water have been left with no option but to urge people to conserve water. I understand the need for people to be responsible, even if my land and that of other farms across the country need a good soaking. But there's an issue with this messaging from Scottish Water, who let's not forget are an SNP-backed quango. And as revealed in yesterday's Scottish Daily Mail front page, we know how much these quangos waste public money. While they beg the public to save water, they are wasting the equivalent of close to 200 Olympic-size swimming pools of water every single day due to leaky pipes. Talk about a broken system. The lack of infrastructure to deal with unexpected spells of weather, good or bad, is clearly an issue that has been exposed by this dry spell. And what are bosses at Scottish Water suggesting we do? Take shorter showers and use buckets to collect water while washing, so that can be used to water plants. Let's get real for a second. Are any of the well-paid Scottish Water bosses going to be leading by example and following this advice? They have happily pocketed large salaries in recent years while people were hit by inflation-busting rises in their water bills this year. Surely with the money they are earning, they should not have allowed the water supply system to be broken to this extent. It's not only the supply system where the system is broken. Bosses have sat back as raw sewage continues to spill into our beautiful rivers and spoil our glorious beaches. This is at the heart of Scotland's quango problem. Not only are they squandering huge sums of money on an army of spin doctors, as my party revealed in this paper earlier this week, but we also have an army of top bosses who are being rewarded for failure after almost two decades of the SNP creating an ever-bloated state. Scottish Water cannot fix broken pipes or stop raw sewage from polluting our water, yet they still demand more and more from the public. If Scots are to be encouraged to follow this advice if the rain continues to stay away, then it needs to be an example of do as I do, not do as I say. The public will find the communication hypocritical when Scottish Water is losing over 450 million litres of water every day through leaks. If they can't manage their supply now, how prepared are they for future weather events like this or even for the summer months still to come this year? Scots are sick of being told what to do by well-paid bosses when they are already paying more in taxes only to get less in return. What is even more sickening is that the commission who oversee Scottish Water had their knuckles wrapped this week by the public audit committee, for a catalogue of failures that led to lavish spending at the taxpayers' expense that spiralled out of control. Scottish Water need to get their own house in order and while they are at it, what is their specific advice for struggling farmers right now? We want to do our bit too but we can't put our livelihoods at risk. Not when we're facing so many other challenges right now. So I'm sorry to say for the sake of my other role outwith politics, I'll be hoping that weather map shows some rain for Moray, and for the rest of Scotland's farms sometime soon.
Times
12-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Keir Starmer under pressure to cut costs as quango expenditure doubles
Quango costs have more than doubled in a decade despite successive pledges to slim down spending on public bodies, according to figures. Sir Keir Starmer faced calls to ensure his pledge to scale back the state provides savings for taxpayers instead of superficially cutting organisations, but not staff numbers or expenditure. Analysis shared with The Times showed that arm's-length bodies (ALBs) spent £343.6 billion in 2022-23, which was a 243 per cent increase from 2012-13. • More than 1,300 quango staff on salaries and benefits over £100,000 In 2022-23, spending by quangos represented 29.6 per cent of all public sector expenditure, which is more than double 2012-13, when it was 13.2 per cent. Staff numbers have increased by 63.6 per cent to 390,808 over the
