While successive governments have consolidated some public bodies, they have also set up new bodies, including small ones. When our predecessor Public Accounts Committee reported on arm’s-length bodies in 2021, it found that, despite the guidance that creating a new arm’s-length body should be a “last resort”, government often did not rigorously consider the alternatives to setting up a new arm’s-length body.8

While successive governments have consolidated some public bodies, they have also set up new bodies, including small ones. When our predecessor Public Accounts Committee reported on arm’s-length bodies in 2021, it found that, despite the guidance that creating a new arm’s-length body should be a “last resort”, government often did not rigorously consider the alternatives to setting up a new arm’s-length body.8 Type: conclusion | Number: 7 | Response status: response_pending