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www.taxpayersalliance.com
ACA to YJB:A Guide to the UK’sSemi-AutonomousPublic Bodies
2007-08
Ben Farrugia & John O’Connell
 
 
83 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0HW
 www.taxpayersalliance.com 
0845 330 9554 (office hours)
07795 084 113 (24 hours)
1
 
Contents
Executive Summary 21.
 
Introduction 52.
 
Semi-Autonomous Public Bodies 63.
 
Problems with Semi-Autonomous Public Bodies 94.
 
Source and Methodology 11 Appendix A.1: Reforming SAPBs – where to start? 15 Appendix B.1:
 
UK Semi-Autonomous Public Bodies at 31 March 2008 17 Appendix B.2: Details of all UK SAPBs at 31 March 2008, by Department 18
 About the authors
Ben Farrugia
is Deputy Research Director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, responsible forthe organisation’s work on the structure and institutions of British government. Pastreports include
The Case for Abolishing the Regional Development Agencies 
(December2008),
Unseen Government in the UK 
(May 2008) and
 An Affordable Voice for Business 
 (February 2009).
John O’Connell
is a Policy Analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, focused predominatelyon public spending on local and community issues. Recent work includes
How to Save £50 billion: Reducing Spending for Sustainable Public Finances 
(September 2009).
 Acknowledgement
Thanks to Katherine Andrew and James Dawkins for their research assistance.
 
 
83 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0HW
 www.taxpayersalliance.com 
0845 330 9554 (office hours)
07795 084 113 (24 hours)
2
 
Executive Summary
The crisis in the public finances demands serious cuts in public spending. Politicians of all parties are now looking at semi-autonomous public bodies – the quangos of UK Government – as a potential area for savings.
 ACA-to-YJB: A Guide to the UK Semi-Autonomous Public Bodies 
updates last year’s TPA research into Britain’s quangos, providing the public with the only comprehensive andaccurate guide to the UK’s public bodies sector.Covering all the semi-autonomous organisations formally sponsored or overseen byBritish Governments at 31 March 2008 – from the ‘Advisory Committee on Advertising’ (ACA) to the ‘Youth Justice Board’ (YJB) – the guide lays out exactly what Britain’s fournational executives (Westminster, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Stormont) have spent throughthese bodies. Full details are available at Appendix B.2, including details on staff numbers, income and expenditure.The report also includes a list of organisations to which public funding should bereduced. Total expenditure on these bodies was £2.7 billion in 2007-08, and while byno means an exhaustive list, it is intended to start a debate over possible areas wherecuts in funding could be made. See Appendix A.1 for full details.For while cuts in expenditure should not be indiscriminate, a debate must begin aboutwhich areas of public spending should be reduced. Changes to the semi-autonomoussector of Government are vital in this, not only to reduce the burden on taxpayers, butto reintroduce accountability to decision making.
 ACA-to-YJB 
is a key resource as welook to tackle the public debt and reform the structure of British government.Table 1: UK Semi-autonomous public bodies, by Government, 2007-08
 
Number of SAPBs Funding of SAPBs,£ bnExpenditure by SAPBs,£ bn
UK Government 960 82.0 112.3Scottish Executive 146 7.39.0Welsh Assembly 37 1.01.2N. Ireland Executive 9 0.70.7
Total 1,152 91.0 123.0
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