As part of the Government’s commitment to increase the transparency and accountability of all public services, today the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, summarised plans to substantially reform a large number of public bodies.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) with whom the BMC have many dealings, has been examining its network of arm’s-length bodies to increase accountability, improve efficiency and reduce their number and cost. The decisions on the future of DEFRA’s arm’s length bodies, published today, comes after they announced proposals in the summer regarding the future of more than 30 bodies, including the Commission for Rural Communities and the Sustainable Development Commission.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said;

“DEFRA’s current delivery network contains over 90 arm’s-length bodies and there have been difficult decisions to make in order to achieve the best value for money in this challenging economic climate. The announcement today confirms that the number of DEFRA’s arm’s length bodies will reduce by over half.

“But the changes announced today also reflect the government’s view that it should only carry out those functions which only government can do, while harnessing the power of civil society and the private sector to help deliver DEFRA’s objectives.”

In brief, the following changes to DEFRA’s public bodies have been announced today:

• National Park Authorities - retain on grounds of performing a technical function which should remain independent of government; but review governance and increase accountability
• Natural England - retain and substantially reform - reform through structural, process and cultural change to become a more efficient and customer focused organisation; and clarify accountabilities. Further announcements after the spending review
• Forestry Commission - retain and substantially reform. Details of reform will be set out by DEFRA later in the autumn as part of the Government’s strategic approach to forestry in England.
• Environment Agency - retain and substantially reform - reform through structural, process and cultural change to become a more efficient and customer focused organisation; and clarify accountabilities. Further announcements after the spending review.
• English Heritage - retain on grounds of performing a technical function which should remain independent from Government
• Regional Development Agencies will be abolished and functions which are to be retained will be transferred to central or local government and others, as previously announced
• Infrastructure Planning Commission - abolish body and create a Major Infrastructure Planning Unit within the Planning Inspectorate, as previously announced
• Sustainable Development Commission - under consideration - future of body currently being considered in light of DEFRA's decision to withdraw funding at end of 2010/11; as previously announced
• Commission for Rural Communities - abolish and reinforce Government's capacity to reflect rural interests in policies and programmes, as previously announced.

British Waterways will also move from being a Public Corporation to a charitable body within civil society by April 2012. 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.

Natural England & the Environment Agency

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.

Government 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 they have the flexibility and level of local engagement they 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. 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.

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.

Source: http://ww2.defra.gov.uk/news/2010/10/14/public-bodies/

Elsewhere, the Department for Transport (DfT) today announced significant reforms to a number of its public bodies following a cross-Government review. The organisations to be abolished as public bodies include Cycling England. Cycling England was set up as the independent expert body to advise on the promotion of cycling. The Government believes that this work can now be better delivered within the Department through the newly announced Local Sustainable Transport Fund. DfT is also considering establishing an expert panel on wider sustainable travel which would promote cycling as part of the wider green agenda.

More information will be available after the Comprehensive Spending Review on October 20th.
 

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