Taxpayers spend nearly £400bn on 438 quangos, 'explosive' findings show

Taxpayers spent nearly £400 billion on Britain's 438 quangos in one year, "explosive" findings have revealed.

The arms-length bodies are now responsible for almost one third of government spending and employ almost 500,000 staff, the Taxpayers' Alliance (TPA) warned.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice MP said: "These findings are explosive. The government is spending more on opaque quangos than on health, defence, transport and education combined with almost no accountability. This simply isn't working for the British people.

"Only Reform will cut waste, with fewer civil servants and by slashing the bloated public sector. We need more employment in the productive private sector to get the UK economy moving again."

In 2023-24, quangos made up £391 billion in public expenditure out of total government spending of over £1.2 trillion.

Funding for quangos comes mainly from taxpayers but quangos also receive additional income from fees and levies.

The TPA said that of a total income of £412 billion, £376 billion is government-funded.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) sponsored 41 quangos in 2023-24, making it the government department responsible for the most quangos in Whitehall.

The soon-to-be abolished NHS England received £175 billion in government funding, making it the most expensive quango.

It also received the most in non-government income at £5.9 billion.

This is followed by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, which received £72.3 billion in government funding and HM Revenue & Customs, which received £41 billion.

John O'Connell, chief executive of the TPA, said: "The recent cabinet reshuffle is little more than smoke and mirrors. However the deckchairs are rearranged, taxpayers are still stuck on the same broken ship, with an ever expanding quango state responsible for steering the course.

"The combined might of this bureaucracy dwarfs that of any single government department. Yet this ministry of quangos remains unelected and largely unaccountable to the public footing the bill.

"Ministers must get a grip on this shadow state. That means axing functions, demanding transparency, and ultimately putting quangos back under proper democratic control."

The number of quangos has fallen by more than half since 2010 but there are still hundreds across the UK.

In March, the government announced the abolition of NHS England, the "world's largest quango".

Despite Sir Keir Starmer indicating he would also like to reduce the role of quangos, the new Labour government has set up more than 20 since winning power in July last year.

It has pledged to abolish around five, including water regulator Ofwat.

Campaign groups, like the TPA, have long criticised quangos, claiming they allow ministers to dodge responsibility for mistakes and can be inefficient and costly.

The Cabinet Office has announced it will reduce Civil Service administration costs by 15% by 2030.

A Government spokeswoman said: "We're already reviewing all arms length bodies across government and we will close or merge any that cannot be justified.

"We have already announced we'll get rid of the largest arm's length body, NHS England, by merging it with the Department for Health and Social Care. This will increase efficiency and help to deliver the Plan for Change."