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Central government is set to decide the future of public bodies such as the Arts Council under a review programme recently launched by Jacob Rees-Mogg, the minister for Brexit opportunities and government efficiency.
The Cabinet Office-run Public Bodies Review Programme will see the operations of all "arm’s length" bodies in England assessed to see whether “they should be abolished or retained”, Rees-Mogg said, and whether the money allocated to them is spent effectively. The review will look to identify a minimum of 5% savings for each organisation.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport will be asked to review the public bodies it sponsors, including the Arts Council, the BFI, the National Lottery Community Fund and Historic England, the Stage reported.
Rees-Mogg said: “Taxpayer’s money should be spent efficiently and on worthwhile areas. It’s right then that we should always look at public organisations and whether they are delivering for the British people.”
Under the new guidelines, departments will be asked to review their public bodies to assess whether a function should be delivered by the state, or whether an alternative is more fitting; ensure public bodies have a "laserlike" focus on delivering their objectives, and are not making decisions which fall under the remit of ministers; reduce the burden on the taxpayer as the increased pressures of the pandemic on the public purse come to an end and spend taxpayer money with greater care and ensure performance, expenditure and other data is shared openly.
The Arts Council has provided much-needed support to literature organisations and libraries, not least during the pandemic. In 2020, Arts Council England was praised for having "saved" independent publishing after allocating £160m from an emergency fund.
Currently, there are a total of 295 arm’s length bodies in England, which spend more than £220bn each year and employ more than 300,000 people.
According to The National Audit Office, since 2010 the government has reduced the number of arm’s length bodies by a third between 2010 and 2015, saving around £3bn annually in administrative costs. The new review hopes to build on these efforts.
In a statement to the Stage, Arts Council England declined to comment, stating: “It is for DCMS and its ministers to decide when and how bodies are reviewed."