| MP Claims Northwest Has Been Quango'd |
| Wednesday, 26 March 2008 | |
 Four London Boroughs, with a population of just 824,000, have a greater influence on quango boards than the entire north of England - this is just one of the findings of a new report which a local MP describes as "deeply worrying". The report, conducted by the New Local Government Network (NLGN), examined the makeup of one of the least understood aspects of British Politics today - quangos.
'Quasi-non-governmental organisations' are those bodies that are appointed by Ministers to perform functions outside of the political realm. Immensely powerful, these bodies spend over £123 billion of public money each year - the equivalent of 9.3% of Britain's GDP. The NLGN report however has found that just 5% of those appointed to govern these bodies come from the North West, a figure that astonished Liberal Democrat MP for Southport John Pugh:"Suddenly the endemic neglect that the North West has had to put up with for so long starts to make a bit more sense" commented Dr Pugh this morning. "Every year Quangos spend £123 billion of public money, and only 5% of the people deciding where exactly this money should go are from the North West - is it any wonder the region loses out so consistently when it's so under represented on the bodies that matter?" The MP was particularly concerned at the regional makeup of the cultural sector, where a 'gang of four' London boroughs dominate the boards of various public bodies. The Boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Camden and Islington in some cases account for over 90% of the board members responsible for a variety of cultural institutions. The six most London-centric public bodies are all in fact from the cultural sector, and despite 2008 seeing Liverpool as the European Capital of Culture, the city does not send a single one of its residents to the boards of these prestigious cultural bodies - a figure which angered Dr Pugh. "Why should the board of bodies such as the Film Council, or Channel 4, be so overwhelmingly dominated by just 4 London boroughs? How is the North West ever going to get a fair deal when it's residents don't get a look-in when it comes to these appointments? What is the justification for having so much public money in the hands of 4 of the richest boroughs of the country, at the expense of Liverpool having any say whatsoever? The European Capital of Culture has no representation whatsoever on 6 of the most powerful cultural institutions in the country. It defies belief." Dr Pugh is now backing NLGN's call for a "national diversity" strategy in an attempt to remedy some of the problems uncovered: "The North West deserves a fair say, it's as simple as that. The gross over-representation of the same old London Boroughs on the boards of these public bodies is something which shouldn't be allowed to continue unopposed. All we are asking for is a level playing field: the North West has had to put up with this kind of rampant institutional bias for far too long already." |