PUBLIC BODIES 2002 ALCOHOL EDUCATION & RESEARCH COUNCIL | ANIMAL WELFARE ADVISORY COMMITTEE | ARTS COU NORTHERN IRELAND | ARTS COUNCIL OF WALES | BETTER REGULATION TASK FORCE | BRITISH BR CORPORATION | BRITISH COUNCIL | BRITISH LIBRARY | BRITISH TOURIST AUTHORITY | CENTRAL CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE | CIVIL JUSTICE COUNCIL | COAL AUTHORITY | COMMISSION FOR INTE TRANSPORT | COMMISSION FOR RACIAL EQUALITY | COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS IN PUBLIC LIFE | COMMISSION | COUNTRYSIDE AGENCY | CRIMINAL CASES REVIEW COMMITTEE | CRIMINAL INJURIE COMPENSATION AUTHORITY | DEFENCE NUCLEAR SAFETY COMMITTEE | DESIGN COUNCIL | EMPLOY TRIBUNALS | ENGLISH NATURE | ENVIRONMENT AGENCY | EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMISSION | E COMMISSION FOR NORTHERN IRELAND | EXPERT ADVISORY GROUP ON AIDS | FOOTBALL LICENSING HEALTH & SAFETY EXECUTIVE | HUMAN FERTILISATION AND EMBRYOLOGY AUTHORITY | HUMAN GE COMMISSION | LOW PAY COMMISSION | MEAT & LIVESTOCK COMMISSION | MENTAL HEALTH REVIEW MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY IN MANCHESTER | NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM | NORTHERN IREL RIGHTS COMMISSION | OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS REGULATORY AUTHORITY | PAROLE BOARD | PENS COMPENSATIONS BOARD | RACE RELATIONS FORUM | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES | ROYAL C ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION | ROYAL NAVY MUSEUM | SCOTTISH ENTERPRISE | SCOTTISH SCRE ENGLAND | TATE GALLERY | TEACHER TRAINING AGENCY | UK ATOMIC ENERGY AUTHORITY | UK S WALES TOURIST BOARD | WELSH LANGUAGE BOARD | WOMEN’S NATIONAL COMMISSION | ZOOS FOR PUBLIC BODIES 2002 THE STATIONERY OFFICE © CROWN COPYRIGHT 2003 Applications for reproduction should be made in writing to Her Majesty’s Copyright Unit, St. Clements House, 2–16 Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BQ First published 2003 ISBN 0 7115 0435 0 ii CONTENTS Commentary iv Statistical Tables vii Public Bodies 2002 by Sponsor Departments UK Government Cabinet Office 1 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 5 Department for Culture, Media and Sport 7 Ministry of Defence 21 Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 27 Department for Education and Skills 31 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 35 Export Credits Guarantee Department 47 Food Standards Agency 49 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 53 Department of Health 57 Home Office 73 Inland Revenue 79 Department for International Development 81 Lord Chancellor’s Department 83 Northern Ireland Court Service 89 Northern Ireland Office 91 Oftel 93 OFWAT 95 Royal Mint 97 Scotland Office 99 Department of Trade and Industry 101 Department for Transport 113 HM Treasury 117 Department for Work and Pensions 119 Devolved Administrations Northern Ireland Assembly 123 Scottish Executive 153 Welsh Assembly Government 155 Task Forces 2002 by Sponsor Departments 163 Index to Public Bodies and Task Forces 225 iii Commentary COMMENTARY Public Bodies 2002 is the latest in a series of annual publications providing information on public bodies sponsored by Government. This edition gives a snapshot as at 31 March 2002. Public bodies carry out a wide range of functions on behalf of Government and between them, the main ones spend just over£20 billion of public money each year. As part of the Government’s commitment to transparency and accountability, the Cabinet Office collects and publishes annually information about public bodies as a whole, to supplement information about individual bodies already contained in departmental Annual Reports. The scope of this publication Previous editions of this publication have reported on the public bodies sponsored by the Devolved Administrations as well as UK Government departments. In recognition of the bedding down of the devolved arrangements, this year’s publication gives full information, summary statistics and analysis only for bodies sponsored by UK Government departments (this would include the Northern Ireland Office, the Scotland Office and the Welsh Office as appropriate). Summary information about bodies sponsored by the Scottish Executive is at pages 153–4. Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary legislative changes, appointments to those bodies will be separately monitored by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Scotland from 2003. Information about bodies sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Assembly is contained at pages 155–162 and 123–151 respectively. It is proposed that appointments made by the Welsh Assembly Government be separately monitored by a Commissioner for Public Appointments for Wales from 2004. More information can be obtained directly from the Devolved Administrations. What is a public body? A public body is not part of a government department, but carries out its function to a greater or lesser extent at arm’s length from central government. Ministers are ultimately responsible to Parliament for the activities of the bodies sponsored by their department and in almost all cases (except, for example, where there is separate statutory provision) ministers make the appointments to their boards. Departments are responsible for funding and ensuring good governance of their public bodies. In this publication, each body is listed under the heading of the government department that is its sponsor. The term “public body” is a general one which includes: Nationalised Industries, such as the British Waterways Board; Public Corporations, such as the BBC; NHS Bodies, which comprise NHS Trusts and Special Health Authorities; and Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs). iv Commentary There are four types of NDPBs. These denote different funding arrangements, functions and kinds of activity. They are: • Executive NDPBs – established in statute and carrying out administrative, regulatory and commercial functions, they employ their own staff and are allocated their own budgets. • Advisory NDPBs – provide independent and expert advice to ministers on particular topics of interest. They do not usually have staff but are supported by staff from their sponsoring department. They do not usually have their own budget, as costs incurred come within the department’s expenditure. • Tribunal NDPBs – have jurisdiction in a specialised field of law. They are usually supported by staff from their sponsoring department and do not have their own budgets. • Boards of Visitors – ‘watchdogs’ of the prison system. Their duty is to satisfy themselves as to the state of the prison premises, their administration and the treatment of prisoners. The sponsoring department meets the costs. Numbers of bodies There were 834 public bodies sponsored by UK Government departments as at 31 March 2002. This figure is made up of 3 Nationalised Industries, 11 Public Corporations, 23 NHS bodies and 797 NDPBs. The NDPB group is made up of 192 Executive NDPBs, 428 Advisory NDPBs, 36 Tribunal NDPBs (counted on the basis of tribunal systems rather than individual boards) and 141 Boards of Visitors. The Government continues to keep the need for each public body under review and new public bodies are only set up when it can be demonstrated that they provide the best means of delivering the function required. Appointments to public bodies Thousands of people from a wide range of backgrounds across the whole of the UK, with a variety of skills and experience, participate in public life through appointments to the public bodies listed in this book. You can find summary information about the 22,000 or so men and women serving on the boards of these public bodies on the following pages. Appointment on merit continues to be the overriding principle for selecting people for an appointment. Alongside this principle, the Government has been working hard to open up public appointments to all suitable people and improving the diversity of the boards that run public bodies. The aim is that public appointments should broadly represent the composition of the population generally. The overall UK Government target for 2005 is for an even balance of men and women on boards of public bodies; about 6–7% people from a minority ethnic background (to reflect the proportion of people from these communities in the economically active population as a whole); and to increase the number of appointments of people who identify themselves as having a disability from the 2001 figure of 1.5%. Each department has set itself its own target to achieve. v Commentary As at 31 March 2002, 34% of appointments made by UK Government departments were held by women; 6.2% by people from a minority ethnic background; and 3.3% by people who had identified themselves as having a disability. The Government is pleased to see that progress has been good against the minority ethnic community and disability targets, but is disappointed that the proportion of women holding public appointments has remained static this year. Departments will continue to work to improve this. Regulating the appointment process The post of Commissioner for Public Appointments was established in November 1995 and the current Commissioner is Dame Rennie Fritchie. The Commissioner’s role is to regulate, monitor and report on the way ministers make appointments to the boards of public bodies. The Commissioner’s jurisdiction currently covers ministerial appointments to public bodies in Great Britain. There is a separate post of Commissioner for Appointments in Northern Ireland (also currently held by Dame Rennie Fritchie). As already mentioned, there are proposals to set up separate arrangements for Scotland and Wales from 2003 and 2004 respectively. About half of all public appointments fall within the Commissioner’s remit. The Government however seeks to follow the Code of Practice