Public Bodies Act 2011

Public Bodies Act 2011[a]
Act of Parliament
coat of arms
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to confer powers on Ministers of the Crown in relation to certain public bodies and offices; to confer powers on Welsh Ministers in relation to environmental and other public bodies; to make provision about delegation and shared services in relation to persons exercising environmental functions; to abolish regional development agencies; to make provision about the funding of Sianel Pedwar Cymru; to make provision about the powers of bodies established under the National Heritage Act 1983 to form companies; to repeal provisions of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 relating to appeals to the Chief Coroner; to make provision about amendment of Schedule 1 to the Superannuation Act 1972; and for connected purposes.
Citation2011 c. 24
Introduced byFrancis Maude (Commons)
Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Lords)
Territorial extent United Kingdom[b]
Dates
Royal assent14 December 2011
Commencementvarious[c]
Other legislation
Amends
Repeals/revokesRegional Development Agencies Act 1998
Amended by
Relates to
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Public Bodies Act 2011 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Public Bodies Act 2011 (c. 24) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning public bodies.

Background

The act was passed to enable what the Cameron-Clegg coalition government described as the bonfire of the quangos.[1]

When the act was passed there were approximately 900 quangos.[2]

Provisions

The act enables ministers the ability to establish, merge or abolish public bodies through secondary legislation.[3] This must be approved by Parliament.[4]

The government is required to consider the views of select committees.[4]

The act requires the government to secure sufficient funding for S4C.[5]

Impact

From 2010 levels, the number of arm's-length bodies had reduced by 200 in January 2013,[6] by 285 in March 2015[7] and by 378 in March 2018.[8]

Further developments

When reviewing the government's use of the act in 2014, the Public Administration Select Committee recommended a simpler classification system for public bodies.[9]

Further reading

Notes

  1. ↑ Section 39.
  2. ↑ Section 37.
  3. ↑ Section 38.

References

  1. ↑ Gill, Matthew; Bishop, Maddy (November 2024). "How to set up a public body" (PDF). Institute for Government. Retrieved 20 July 2026.
  2. ↑ Browne, Jude (April 2020). "The Regulatory Gift: Politics, regulation and governance". Regulation & Governance. 14 (2): 203–218. doi:10.1111/rego.12194. ISSN 1748-5983.
  3. ↑ Pearson, Jonathan; Gash, Tom; Rutter, Jill (March 2015). "Out of the ashes: Priorities for reforming arm's-length government in the UK" (PDF). Institute for Government. Retrieved 20 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 "MPs call for 'vital' quango to be reprieved". BBC News. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2026.
  5. ↑ Wiliam, Hywel (1 July 2014). "Challenges for the Future of English Language TV in Wales". Institute of Welsh Affairs. Retrieved 20 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "Public Bodies 2012" (PDF). Cabinet Office, HM Government. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Public Bodies 2014, p. 3" (PDF). HM Government. March 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "Public Bodies 2018-19, p. 6" (PDF). HM Government. March 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  9. ↑ Gash, Tom (11 November 2014). "The ticking clock on quango reform". Public Finance. Retrieved 20 July 2026.
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