Chaos at Historic Environment Scotland provides another reason for bonfire of the quangos
Quango culture was born from a loss of confidence in democracy
Historic Environment Scotland does much good work to preserve ancient buildings that speak volumes about this country’s storied past. However, revelations about the chaos inside the body – likened to an “organisational nervous breakdown” by Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr – provide a telling example of what can happen when quangos go wrong.
The suspension of its chief executive, rows over spending on hospitality, allegations of drunkenness and unprofessional behaviour, and question marks over senior executives’ pay all paint a dismal picture.
Creating ‘quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations’ can seem like a good idea. Experts, independent of politicians, will make decisions based on the national interest, rather than for self-serving or party-political reasons. Or so the argument goes.
However, in a democracy, while politicians must listen to experts, it is they who ultimately need to be in control.
Duplication of bureaucracy
Organisations designed to be at ‘arms-length’ have a tendency to slip out of reach and ‘empire build’, adding extra staff to do jobs that, while nice to have, are not strictly necessary. Expenses, such as a meal at a restaurant, can spiral to the point where the taxpayer is picking up the tab for a £400 dinner at a high-end restaurant, as claimed by a former boss of Scotland’s water industry regulator.
Furthermore, quangos necessarily involve a duplication of bureaucracy, as government still needs to retain in-house expertise to scrutinise their work.
When UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced the abolition of NHS England, he said there were more than twice as many staff working in NHS England and the Health Department than in 2010 “when the NHS delivered the shortest waiting times and the highest patient satisfaction in history”. “We have been left with two large organisations doing the same roles with an enormous amount of duplication,” he added.
Deflecting blame
Quango culture was born of a loss of confidence in democracy and the lack of accountability only serves to make this worse. If a member of the public objects to a decision, it can seem as if they have little chance of overturning it. And for politicians, an arms-length organisation means they are similarly removed from any problems and potential blame.
Some quangos are necessary. However, particularly with government spending under severe pressure and public services struggling to deliver, Scotland needs to rediscover its faith in democracy and bring many of these organisations back under direct government control.
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