Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies

On July 14 I signalled the intention of the Assembly Government to shrink and reform the quango state in Wales, thereby strengthening democratic accountability. The announcements made that day covered 70 per cent of the quango state. Today, I am announcing our reform programme for the remaining 30 per cent.

Our policy is that where executive Assembly sponsored public bodies undertake functions which are governmental either on policy or delivery, they should be brought in-house. You can justify the existence of arm’s-length bodies in government, but there is no such thing as arm’s-length public money. Ministers are always responsible for its allocation and the Assembly is always responsible for its scrutiny. There is no dodging that responsibility.

While decisions on the Welsh Development Agency, Education and Learning Wales and the Wales Tourist Board were relatively straightforward, the remaining bodies present a more complex mix of functions and legal frameworks and protection from merger in the Government of Wales Act 1998. We invited the views of the bodies concerned and I have met those bodies who requested it individually. The decisions I am announcing are not in any way related to the performance of individual bodies and their staff but to simplify the shape of Wales’s public sector post-devolution.

On environment, planning and countryside, while the functions of the Countryside Council for Wales are mainly governmental in nature, CCW is in the Government of Wales Act ‘cannot touch’ list and its merger would require primary legislation in a complex legal area. While I have no plans to change the statutory functions of CCW, the Tir Gofal scheme, which CCW now runs on our behalf, will be brought into the administration by 2007 as part of implementing the new rural development plan.

The Environment Agency Wales is a regulatory body forming part of an England and Wales quango. No change is proposed in its status but we will update our statutory guidance to the agency to reinforce our view of its role as an independent adviser primarily to the Assembly Government.

We propose to replace twelve agricultural advisory bodies, covering agricultural wages and dwellings, with one.

On culture, Welsh language and sport, the functions of the Welsh Language Board are largely governmental, mostly concerned with policy and grant making. The Assembly Government now has, in ‘Iaith Pawb’, its own Welsh language policy and supporting staff. I have decided that the functions of the board should be merged into the Assembly Government before April 2007. The board’s regulatory function in overseeing the Welsh language schemes of public bodies, including the Assembly’s scheme, will be undertaken by the establishment of an office of regulation. This office will initially be set up on an advisory basis converting to a statutory basis when the legislative opportunity arises.

The Arts Council of Wales and the Sports Council for Wales will continue in existence, as the Government cannot be a lottery distributor. The two bodies deliver governmental functions in two areas with an increasing interplay with other areas of policy, such as community regeneration, health and education.

I am therefore redefining our strategic and policy relationship with the two councils. We will bring together the strategy and planning capability in arts and in sports now housed in the two councils and the Government’s relevant staff. Decisions on funding large-scale arts companies with an all-Wales remit will transfer to the Minister and the department. The arts council will continue to have an advisory role on these decisions.

The functions of the National Museums and Galleries of Wales and the National Library of Wales are essentially non-governmental and I propose no change in their status. However, we will seek to improve the strategic co-ordination with and between our national delivery bodies at chair and chief executive level by establishing a Culture Board for Wales—Diwylliant Cymru.

We will transfer the functions of the Ancient Monuments Board for Wales and the Historic Buildings Council for Wales, currently advisory ASPBs, and reconstitute them as advisory panels within the Government as part of Cadw. There will be no change to the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, an executive body whose functions are, again, non-governmental. We will seek to pool the scarce, specialist resource in the built heritage and unify the brand name through which Wales’s built heritage functions are delivered in future, but without affecting the Royal Charter itself.
On education and lifelong learning, repeated undertakings were made by Ministers during the passage of the Government of Wales Bill about the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and the maintenance of arm’s-length arrangements, which were then reflected in the Act itself. It would not be right to transfer its functions in-house. On the Qualifications, Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales, I have concluded that we should merge its functions with the Assembly Government as soon as is practical, and before April 2007. We will retain the integrity of its independent professional judgment covering all its regulatory functions. We shall consult with a view to bringing in the ex-quango, the Wales Youth Agency, in 2006, with a continued commitment to deliver its present spectrum of activities.

On health and social care, the agenda has moved on since Health Professions Wales was conceived as an executive ASPB. The functions are still needed, but I have concluded that they would be strengthened and more simply delivered through existing health organisations. Health Professions Wales will be wound up and its functions transferred by April 2006. The Wales Centre for Health is being set up as an independent source of advice on health matters, and its independence needs to be clearly perceived by the public. We will proceed with setting up the centre but will consult with a view to conferring on it the functions of some nine present health advisory committees, classified as advisory ASPBs, which provide professional, scientific and medical advice.

The NHS was restructured in 2003-04 and further change must be organic rather than wholesale. We will invite proposals for mergers between NHS trusts and local health boards where there is co-terminousity and where merger will provide real benefits to patients and clients. We shall also invite proposals where LHBs, in agreement with local trusts, seek to take responsibility for elements of community health services. The functions of the Care Council for Wales are essentially non-governmental and strictly regulatory, and I propose no change.

I reassure staff working in the organisations affected that we are committed to ensuring that they are treated fairly and consistently throughout the transfer process, and that rights under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 will be respected where they are transferred. Together with the decisions announced in July, we will, by the end of this Assembly, have made a significant step forward in shrinking the quango state in Wales. The result will be clearer democratic accountability for the public money we spend, and a better service for the people of Wales.