House of Commons - Who's accountable? Relationships between Government and arm's-length bodies

Who's accountable? Relationships between Government and arm's-length bodies - Public Administration Committee Contents

7 Transparency

66. The information available on public bodies is patchy: the National Audit Office reported that in 2012-13, 40% of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) made the minutes of their board meetings available to the public, and just 19% held board meetings open to the public.[170] There was no improvement on these measures between 2011-12 and 2012-13. The Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council, however, despite having been absorbed into the Ministry of Justice in August 2013, nonetheless published an annual performance report for 2013-14. It was under no obligation to do so, but responded to urging from this Committee in Future oversight of administrative justice, published in March 2012.[171]

67. Transparency takes different forms. 'Useful' transparency may also include "what the [arm's length body] is there for; how it is governed; how it makes decisions; how well it performs and how to access or complain about its activities".[172] Members of the public in England now have the right to film, blog and tweet in council meetings, but no equivalent regulation applies to public bodies.[173] The Cabinet Office told us there are situations where holding a board meeting in public may not be appropriate, particularly if the sensitivity of the discussion would mean a public meeting would not be in the public interest.[174]

68. We learned that there is also a lack of information on which functions are carried out by public bodies. As the National Audit Office reported in February 2014, "there is no information on the total number of functions carried out at arm's length, either in 2010 or now".[175] Jonathan Isaby of the TaxPayers' Alliance argued that the Government ought to hold information on all bodies which receive public funding, including, for example, public corporations.[176] The Cabinet Office does not oversee or maintain records of the creation of local bodies, public corporations or public companies, unless they are also NDPBs.[177]

69. The Cabinet Office are trying to improve the transparency of public bodies. Nick Hurd MP told us they are making transparency "a more emphatic and important part of the triennial review process".[178]

70. Published documents set out the accountability arrangements for public bodies and government departments, such as 'framework agreements.' Accountability arrangements for NHS England, the largest public body, were summarised for us by the Department of Health.[179] The Department's Permanent Secretary, Una O'Brien, gave us a 300 word answer. In short, she told us that the Department of Health sets NHS England's objectives, and holds it to account via a document, the 'mandate', and regular private meetings. The minutes of these meetings are made public. She wrote afterwards with more information, acknowledging that the system is complex, as it involves a number of bodies performing different but connected roles, but describing one system with responsibility ultimately delegated from the Department.[180] The Department's Accounting Officer responsibilities statement sets out how it holds its public bodies to account. It was published in October 2014, updating the previous version published in September 2012.[181] The document describes the Department as a 'system steward' which acts, where necessary, 'as a national coordinating mechanism'.[182] Professor Ham, speaking to us before this publication, said that clarity in health accountability was improving.[183]

71. Sometimes disagreements between central Government and public bodies are aired in public, and other times they are discussed privately. For example, the Chief Inspector has stated that Ofsted should inspect academy chains; the then Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove MP disagreed.[184] More often, though, chairs of public bodies do not consider it their role to publicly criticise ministerial decisions on their policies and budgets.[185] One of our witnesses, Rob Whiteman, former UK Border Agency Chief Executive, disagreed with 'secrecy' of this kind. Making a wider point about open policy making, he argued that there "would be benefit from more transparency about the options considered, prior to delivery initiation, of the advice given on costs, risks and appraisal of policy options."[186] Unlike in public bodies, disagreements between Permanent Secretaries and Ministers can be made public through the publication of letters of direction, where officials request written direction from Ministers to proceed with a policy. It is worth noting however that no letters of direction have been issued under the current Government.[187]

72. We welcome the greater transparency provided in the 'Public Bodies' publication and Whole of Government Accounts. However, the information available on public bodies remains patchy, as does information on functions previously performed by public bodies but now in-house. Many public bodies undermine open Government and public confidence by failing to hold public meetings or to publish the minutes of their meetings.

73. Accountability documents should be free from jargon and set out in simple and graphic form. Each government department must improve its written statements on accountability arrangements, to make them clear, understandable, and up to date. To achieve this, the statements should be written in plain English with simple organisational charts showing lines of accountability. The Cabinet Office should oversee this work and report on progress in its annual reports.

74. In the interests of transparency, each public body should publish an up-to-date statement of their accountability arrangements in their annual reports and on their websites, like those published by government departments. The Cabinet Office should oversee and report on progress on this.

75. The Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council was absorbed into the Ministry of Justice in August 2013 but nonetheless published an annual performance report for 2013-14. This should be the case for others: the operating units of government departments should produce annual reports and accounts, to enable both ministers and Parliament and the public to hold them to account. The Cabinet Office should ensure transparent information is published on the effectiveness of functions, wherever these functions are performed. With good management information, this should be straightforward.

76. As in meetings of local authorities, members of the public should have the right to film, blog and tweet during public meetings of arm's-length bodies. Ministers in sponsor departments should hold public bodies to account for failing to hold public meetings or publishing the minutes of their meetings, and provide an explanation of how this is being addressed in departmental annual reports.

77. Chairs of public bodies should be able to ask for a letter of direction from the relevant minister, in the event that they feel their public body is being required to do something that is not value for money. This should be copied to the Chair of the relevant select committee.

170 As above Back

171 Public Administration Select Committee, Twenty First Report of Session 2010-12, Future oversight of administrative justice: the proposed abolition of the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council, HC 1621 Back

172 Public Chairs Forum and Institute for Government, Transparency in arm's length bodies: a guide to best practice, 2014 Back

173 Department for Communities and Local Government press release, Press freedom boosted by new 'right to report', August 2014 Back

174 Cabinet Office (QPB27) Back

175 National Audit Office, Progress on public bodies reform, HC (2013-2014) 1048 Back

176 Q101 Back

177 National Audit Office, Progress on public bodies reform, HC (2013-2014) 1048 Back

178 Q456 Back

179 Q294 Back

180 Department of Health (QPB25) Back

181 Department of Health, DH Accounting Officer responsibilities statement, October 2014 Back