Executive Agency

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

ize and scope

Agencies [ [http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ministerial_responsibilities/executive_agencies.aspx Cabinet Office - UK Government executive 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.

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".

List of executive agencies by Department

= Attorney General’s Office =

*Treasury Solicitor's Department

= Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Department for) =

*Companies House
*Insolvency 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) =

*British Forces Post Office
*Defence Analytical 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
*Service Personnel and Veterans Agency
*UK Hydrographic Office

= Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Department for) =

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

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

*FCO Services
*Wilton Park Conference Centre

= Health (Department of) =

*Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency [http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Aboutus/OrganisationsthatworkwithDH/Armslengthbodies/WhatareALBs/index.htm#_1 Department of Health - Executive agencies] ]
*NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency

Home Department (Home Office)

*Criminal Records Bureau
*Forensic Science Service
*Identity and Passport Service
*UK Border Agency

= Innovation, Universities and Skills (Department for) =

*National Weights and Measures Laboratory
*UK Intellectual Property Office

= Justice (Ministry of) =

*HM Courts Service
*HM Land Registry
*HM Prison Service
*The 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

ee also

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

External references

* [http://quangos.ercouncil.org Economic Research Council online database of all UK Quangos 1998-2006]
* [http://www.number-10.gov.uk/files/PDF/opsr-agenciesm.pdf] 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)
* [http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/the_future_of_the_civil_service/agencies_and_public_bodies/index.asp Civil Service]

References