Executive_agency

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An Executive Agency also known as Next-step agencies are parts of a government department that are treated as managerially and budgetarily separate in order to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive. Executive agencies are "machinery of government" devices distinct both non-ministerial government departments, on the one hand, and non-departmental public bodies (or "quangos"), on the other, each of which enjoy a real legal and constitutional separation from ministerial control.

As of July 2002, there were 127 Executive Agencies. 92 of these report to Departments within UK central Government. The remaining 35 report to the Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland Executive.

Contents 1 Size and scope 2 Background 3 Issues and reports 4 List of Executive Agencies reporting to each Department of the United Kingdom Government 4.1 Attorney General’s Office 4.2 Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Department of) 4.3 Cabinet Office 4.4 Communities and Local Government (Department for) 4.5 Culture, Media and Sport (Department for) 4.6 Defence (Ministry of) 4.7 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Department for) 4.8 Food Standards Agency 4.9 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 4.10 Forestry Commission 4.11 Health (Department of) 4.12 Home Department (Home Office) 4.13 Innovation, Universities and Skills (Department of) 4.14 Justice (Ministry of) 4.15 Northern Ireland Office 4.16 Transport (Department for) 4.17 Treasury (HM) 4.18 Work and Pensions (Department for) 5 See also 6 External links 7 References

Size and scope

Agencies range from Her Majesty\'s Prison Service to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. The largest agency in terms of staff numbers is Jobcentre Plus, employing 100,000 people. The annual budget for each agency, allocated by Her Majesty\'s Treasury ranges from a few million pounds for the smallest agencies to £700m for the Court Service to £4bn for Jobcentre Plus. Virtually all government departments have at least one agency. The Ministry of Defence has 36, the most of any department.

Background

Issues and reports

The initial success or otherwise of Executive Agencies was examined in the Sir Angus Fraser\'s Fraser Report of 1991. Its main goal was to identify what good practices had emerged from the new model and spread them to other agencies and departments. The report also recommended further powers be devolved from ministers to chief executives.

A whole series of reports and White Papers examining governmental delivery were published throughout the 1990s, under both Conservative and Labour governments. During these the agency model became the standard model for delivering public services in the United Kingdom. By 1997 76% of civil servants were employed by an agency. The new Labour government in its first such report – the 1998 Next Steps Report endorsed the model introduced by its predecessor. The most recent review (in 2002, linked below) made two central conclusions (their emphasis):

"The agency model has been a success. Since 1988 agencies have transformed the landscape of government and the responsive and effectives of services delivered by Government."

"Some agencies have, however, become disconnected from their departments ... The gulf between policy and delivery is considered by most to have widened."

The latter point, is usually made more forcibly by Government critics, describing agencies as "unaccountable Quangos" [1]

List of Executive Agencies reporting to each Department of the United Kingdom Government

Attorney General’s Office

• Treasury Solicitor\'s Department

Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Department of)

• Companies House
• Insolvency Service
• Small Business Service

Cabinet Office

• Central Office of Information

Communities and Local Government (Department for)

• The Fire Service College
• Ordnance Survey
• Planning Inspectorate
• Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre

Culture, Media and Sport (Department for)

• Royal Parks Agency

Defence (Ministry of)

• Army Base Repair Organisation
• Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency
• British Forces Post Office
• Defence Analytical Services Agency
• Defence Aviation Repair Agency
• Defence Bills Agency
• Defence Communication Services Agency
• Defence Estates
• Defence Medical, Education and Training Agency
• Defence Equipment & Support
• Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
• Defence Storage and Distribution Agency
• Defence Transport and Movements Agency
• Defence Vetting Agency
• Disposal Services Agency
• Duke of York\'s Royal Military School
• Met Office
• Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency
• People, Pay and Pensions Agency
• Royal Navy Supply and Transport Service
• Service Children\'s Education
• UK Hydrographic Office
• Veterans Agency

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Department for)

• Animal Health
• Central Science Laboratory
• Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science
• Government Decontamination Service
• Marine and Fisheries Agency
• Pesticides Safety Directorate
• Rural Payments Agency
• Veterinary Laboratories Agency
• Veterinary Medicines Directorate

Food Standards Agency

• Meat Hygiene Service

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

• FCO Services
• Wilton Park Conference Centre

Forestry Commission

• Forest Enterprise (England)
• Forest Enterprise (Scotland)
• Forest Research

Health (Department of)

• Medicines and Healthcare products and Regulatory Agency
• NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency

Home Department (Home Office)

• Criminal Records Bureau
• Forensic Science Service
• Identity and Passport Service
• Border and Immigration Agency

Innovation, Universities and Skills (Department of)

• Higher Education Funding Council for England
• Learning and Skills Council
• National Weights and Measures Laboratory
• UK Intellectual Property Office

Justice (Ministry of)

• HM Courts Service
• HM Land Registry
• HM Prison Service
• National Archives
• Public Guardianship Office
• Tribunals Service

Northern Ireland Office

• Compensation Agency
• Forensic Science Agency Northern Ireland
• Northern Ireland Prison Service
• Youth Justice Agency

Transport (Department for)

• Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
• Driving Standards Agency
• Government Car and Despatch Agency
• Highways Agency
• Maritime and Coastguard Agency
• Vehicle and Operator Services Agency
• Vehicle Certification Agency

Treasury (HM)

• National Savings and Investments
• Office for National Statistics
• OGCBuying.Solutions
• Royal Mint
• UK Debt Management Office
• Valuation Office Agency

Work and Pensions (Department for)

• Child Support Agency
• Disability and Carers Service
• JobCentre Plus
• The Pension Service
• Rent Service

See also

• Departments of the United Kingdom Government
• Scottish Executive agencies
• Crown corporation
• Non-departmental public body
• US Government independent agencies

External links

• Cabinet Office - Executive Agencies
• Economic Research Council online database of all UK Quangos 1998-2006
• [2] 2002 Government report into the agencies model entitled "Better Government Services – Executive agencies in the 21st century" published by The Prime Minister\'s Office of Public Services Reform. Contains a list of agencies. (PDF)

References

• Civil Service

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