I would wager that well in excess of 50% of voters have not got the first idea what a quango is. Probably many fewer than that figure could tell the meaning of the initials - [Quasi Autonomous Non Governmental Organisation] - and only a tiny fraction of those would have the slightest grasp of what that means and how they operate.Put simply, the government identifies an area of perceived need, eg} within Health.
It then takes its political cronies and places them into all the senior positions. It pours taxpayers' money in and asks few questions about how this is spent.
There is an understanding that bureaucracy will be rife to justify high - and largely non-functioning - employment levels. It is a hidden way of trimming employment figures and quangos are all most alert to the dictates which arrive from Brussels almost on an hourly basis which can then be implemented to the Nth degree.
Last year this sleight of hand cost taxpayers £170 BILLION of largely unaccountable funds.
Quangos have multiplied under Labour and their tentacles run deep.
The value of the monies spent which may be seen as necessary at best, or vaguely useful at worst is unfathomable. The figure could possibly be slashed by 50% and the country would not notice the difference.
Enough money for quangos; enough for prosecuting foreign wars and enough to waste £137 million pounds per day on EU membership and the government wants to RAISE taxes?
How about making substantial savings in these 3 areas, CUTTING taxation and seeing public services thrive?
That would be my alternative.
***LearnDirect is an educational quango. It pours £500k per year of taxpayers' money into the appalling Jeremy Kyle Show on daytime TV.
29/09/07. Publicity nipped this in the bud and the £500k has been saved and will now be directed into some equally appalling money hole.
See what I mean?
LINKS: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/19/nquango119.xml
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/19/nquango219.xml
