Public Bodies 2003 PUBLIC BODIES 2003 © CROWN COPYRIGHT 2003 Applications for reproduction should be made in writing to Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Licensing Division, 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 2003 by Sponsor Departments UK Government Cabinet Office 1 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 4 Department for Culture, Media and Sport 5 Ministry of Defence 19 Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 24 Department for Education and Skills 28 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 32 Export Credits Guarantee Department 44 Food Standards Agency 45 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 48 Department of Health 51 Home Office 66 Inland Revenue 72 Department for International Development 73 Lord Chancellor’s Department 74 Northern Ireland Court Service 79 Northern Ireland Office 81 Oftel 84 OFWAT 86 Royal Mint 87 Scotland Office 88 Department of Trade and Industry 89 Department for Transport 102 HM Treasury 106 Department for Work and Pensions 107 Devolved Administrations Northern Ireland Executive 111 Review of Scottish Public Bodies 135 Review of Welsh Public Bodies 137 Task Forces, Ad hoc Advisory Groups and Reviews 2003 138 Task Forces, Ad hoc Advisory Groups and Reviews 2003 by Sponsor Departments 140 Index to Public Bodies and Task Forces, Ad hoc Advisory Groups and Reviews 206 iii Commentary COMMENTARY Public Bodies 2003 is the latest in a series of annual publications providing information on public bodies sponsored by the UK Government. This edition gives a snapshot as at 31 March 2003. Public bodies carry out a wide range of functions on behalf of government. 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 includes the Northern Ireland Office, the Scotland Office and the Welsh Office as appropriate). Summary information about bodies sponsored by the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government is at pages 157 and 159 respectively. More detailed information about public bodies and public appointments in Scotland and Wales can be obtained from those devolved administrations themselves. Information about bodies sponsored by the Northern Ireland Executive is at pages 127—155. 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 British Shipbuilders; Public Corporations, such as the BBC; NHS Bodies; 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 849 public bodies sponsored by UK Government departments as at 31 March 2003. This figure is made up of 3 Nationalised Industries, 12 Public Corporations, 23 NHS Bodies and 811 NDPBs. The NDPB group is made up of 206 Executive NDPBs, 422 Advisory NDPBs, 33 Tribunal NDPBs (counted on the basis of tribunal systems rather than individual boards) and 150 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 More than 22,000 people from a wide range of backgrounds across the whole of the UK currently participate in public life by being members of the boards of the public bodies listed in this publication. The government has two fundamental commitments when it comes to public appointments. The first and overriding principle is that selection should be made on merit, using fair and open procedures that ensure the best available candidate is selected and appointed to each post. The second is a commitment to improving diversity in public appointments and recognition that the boards of public bodies will be most effective if they benefit from access to a wide range of skills, experience and backgrounds among their members. In particular, the government wishes to increase the number of appointees from currently under-represented groups to achieve equal representation of women and men, pro rata representation of members of minority ethnic groups and increased participation of disabled people. As at 31 March 2003, 35.7% of appointments to public bodies were held by women, 5.3%by people with a minority ethnic background and 3.1% by disabled people. v Commentary In line with these government commitments, each central government department produces plans, including specific time-based targets, for increasing and improving diversity, and reports annually on progress to date. 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). Proposals to establish a Scottish Commissioner for Public Appointments are underway and the Scottish Executive aims to appoint a Commissioner by the end of 2003. The Welsh Assembly Government is considering whether a separate Commissioner should be established for Wales. About half of all public appointments fall within the Commissioner’s remit. The government, however, seeks to follow the Code of Practice established by the Commissioner as good practice for all public appointments wherever possible. All public bodies falling within the Commissioner’s jurisdiction are shown in the following pages as ‘OCPA regulated’. Most of the appointments that are not regulated by OCPA are appointments to tribunals, the majority of which are separately regulated by the Commissioner for Judicial Appointments. A key to this publication is contained on the back page. vi Public Bodies 2003 Statistical Tables Statistical Tables Table 1: Number of Public Bodies, 2002/2003 by department Department Executive NDPBs Advisory NDPBs Tribunal NDPBs Boards of Visitor NDPBs Public Corporations Nationalised Industries NHS Bodies Total no. Cabinet Office 0 10 0000010 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 0 22 0000022 Department for Culture, Media and Sport 43 16 1 0 5 0 0 65 Ministry of Defence 7 250000032 Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 8 7 2 000017 Department for Education and Skills 12 1 2 000015 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 42 47 4 0 2 0 0 95 Export Credits Guarantee Department 0 100000 1 Food Standards Agency 0 8 100009 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 6 3 1 0 1 0 0 11 Department of Health 8 37 3 0 0 0 23 71 Home Office 12 10 5 147 0 0 0 174 Inland Revenue 0 0 10000 1 Department for International Development 2 1000003 Lord Chancellor’s Department 4 174 2 0000180 Northern Ireland Court Service 0 12 0000012 Northern Ireland Office 6 1 1 3 0 0 0 11 Oftel (Office of Telecommunications) 0 6 000006 OFWAT (Office of Water Services) 1010000011 Royal Mint 0 100000 1 Scotland Office 0 100000 1 Department of Trade and Industry 28 28 7 0 2 3 0 68 Department for Transport 12 2 1 0 1 0 0 16 HM Treasury 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 Department for Work and Pensions 6 6 2 000014 TOTALS 206 422 33 150 12 3 23 849 NUMBER OF NDPBS 1,800 1,600 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997