Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of public bodies across government.

This government will streamline the public bodies landscape through a robust programme of “tailored reviews” overseen by the Cabinet Office and department-led transformation programmes. Non-ministerial departments, non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies will be reviewed once per parliament. These reviews will examine whether their functions should still be delivered at arm’s length, and if so, aim to increase their efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability. This builds on the public bodies reform programme delivered from 2010-15, which successfully produced fewer, more accountable, and more efficient public bodies.