Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) Cabinet Office and (b) Treasury approval processes are that decide on whether an Arm’s-Length Body can become a non-departmental public body.

The approvals process for new arm’s-length bodies (ALBs), including non-departmental public bodies, is outlined in the Public Bodies Handbook - Part 2. This is a jointly led process between the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury.

The government is additionally conducting a review of all ALBs, including proposals for new ones, to assess them against four principles: (1) Ministers should have direct policy control over decisions that affect the public, (2) duplication across the state should be minimised, (3) stakeholder engagement is not sufficient rationale for an ALB, and (4) some advice should be independently delivered. This is part of the plan to streamline the state by closing, merging or repatriating public bodies into departments unless their separate existence can be justified.