Arm’s-length Bodies

Lord Wallace of Saltaire Excerpts

Thursday 1st May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My noble friend raises an excellent point. This Government are about making sure that we have the right people in the right place to deliver on our plan for change and our mission-driven Government. Delivery is key. Where people have the right skill sets, we will deploy them to make sure we are delivering for the people of the United Kingdom.

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD)]

My Lords, does the Minister recognise that arm’s-length bodies and executive agencies are as old as the British state? Regular reviews of those bodies are desirable, but repeated restructuring is like ministerial turnover; it damages efficient administration. Would it not be better to make sure that ministerial changes in all these were overseen by parliamentary committees rather more actively, so that if they are supposed to be semi-independent of Ministers they are able to choose to have the support of Parliament either for ministerial change or for continuity?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The noble Lord makes a very important point about the independence of these bodies. The Infected Blood Compensation Authority, for example, has been established outside government to ensure that people accessing the compensation have trust and faith in the service that they may not have in the Government. Independence is key and is one of our core criteria. The ongoing scrutiny is part of your Lordships’ day-to-day work, but there is also a responsibility on the sponsoring department to make sure that work is done effectively and delivers the objectives. I look forward to discussing this in more detail with the noble Lord.