Douglas Carswell's Blog

Curbing spend-spend quango culture

David Cameron has criticized Whitehall's spending culture. Commenting on how officials were looking at ways to spend, rather than save, money, the Prime Minister declared "Frankly, it's a culture that needs to change and we are going to change it."

At the same time, Francis Maude is looking to curb the quangos, making them less costly and answer for what they do.

Let's hope they are successful.

But it is worth reflecting that every government over the past generation has talked about quango "bonfires". And not a single post-war government has ever successfully reduced government spending.

Could it be that government is not the best means by which one might rein in government? Perhaps we cannot rely on executive fiat to curb the wasteful excesses of the executive?

After all, how often does a Cabinet minister go to Cabinet meetings pleading with colleagues to shrink their departmental empires? The special pleading is usually the other way,

The answer to cutting public spending and reining back quangos lies not in ever more accountability upward to ministers, "star chambers" and Treasury officials. Rather it lies in outward accountability to the taxpayer through Parliament.

Since the Civil War, Parliament's purpose is supposed to be overseeing how our taxes are spent. Instead of rubber stamping government spending decisions as they've done for decades, the Commons needs to assert its right to say "no". Until then, Whitehall's spend-spend quango culture will persist once ministers attention is inevitably occupied elsewhere.

With Commons committees now freed from control by Whips, they should take on the role of annually approving departmental and quango budgets. No approval, no money.

That would change the culture - and reduce Whitehall waste. It might also give MPs something worthwhile to do.

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