Trudi Davies The Politics Show South East

That "history's dustbin", is a promise yet to be kept

You know when you've been quango'd... or do you?

When New Labour rode to power on a wave of popular support in 1997 they set about implementing a vast array of headline grabbing policies.

At the same time, a rather quieter revolution was scheduled to take place.

A year earlier, Tony Blair promised that, when in power, he would ensure that "quasi autonomous non-governmental organisations", or Quangos, would be consigned to "history's dustbin".

Presumably, in an effort to ensure that the right bodies were left out by the front door for refuse collection, a definition appeared on the Government's website.

"A body which has a role in the processes of national government, but is not a government department or part of one, and which accordingly operates to a greater or lesser extent at arm's length from Ministers."

Quangos live on

The very existence of the Cuckmere Estuary is in the hands of quangos

Quangos have indeed been consigned to a dustbin, but it is more of a recycling bin than the type that gets taken to the tip.

Quangos are not so much gone as rebranded and are now called Non-departmental Public Bodies (NDPB) - not as catchy but there we are.

As with all these things there is some debate as to exactly how many of these NDPB's now exist.

In a recent debate in the House of Lords, Lord Bassam of Brighton claimed a total of 910 quangos in existence.

But hold on, despite the definition outlined by Labour themselves, a number of likely candidates no longer seem to appear within the figures.

Regional Assemblies and the vast array of health authorities, for instance are not in the equation.

They are not alone claims Dan Lewis, research director of the Economic Research Council and author of "The Essential Guide to British Quangos 2005."

He cites some 6,000 current bodies that would meet the above definition.

Quango fog

And just what is it that's so attractive about quangos, that means Labour cannot say goodbye?

Whitehall can filter civil servants to outside bodies and thus claim to be cutting red tape, and information can be hidden in quangos, some of whom do not have to provide answers under the Freedom of Information Act.

But arguably, the people who benefit most from quangos, are those that sit on them.

Some heads earn more than �100,000 a year for a few days work each month.

Possibly the people who benefit least are those picking up the bill and fighting the decisions they make.

A recent Sunday Times survey found that NDPBs cost each adult in Britain a total of �3,600/year.

Is anyone listening?

Downing Street and Whitehall... a quango zone...

Just for fun, we sent Paul Siegert for a walk on the South Downs and set him the task of working out just how many quangos have a say in some of Sussex's most iconic views - the answer is rather shocking.

Along the way he comes across a number of people who are paying their �3,600 a year for the privilege of fighting, what they see as, faceless bureaucrats.

Alan Edgar and Stef Diella are fighting no less than five quangos, in their bid to prevent a non-elected body from overturning a council decision to save the Cuckmere Estuary from being allowed to revert to a flood plain.

Jonathon Coe is battling West Kent Primary Care Trust in his bid to save Tunbridge Wells' Homeopathic Hospital from closure by "invisible organisations."

And across in Mid Sussex some 10,000 people are taking to the streets to try to persuade the relevant health quangos not to close the Accident and Emergency Department in Hayward's Heath.

Join Paul in his journey around the region's quangos and their opponents and please contact us if you have anything you want to say about how layers of Government affect you and your daily life.

Will quangos ever be a good thing or should we take a leaf out of Alan Sugar's book and tell some of them "You're Fired"?

On Sunday Paul's guests will include Norman Baker MP for Lewes, Cllr Patrick Shanahan, and a representative of South East England Regional Assembly.

Done deal?

What do you do when the gates cannot be opened for more prisoners?

Prisons are overflowing and the Home Office is desperate to get the system back on track.

Possibly not the best moment then for Gwyn Prosser MP to be meeting John Reid to explain why he and his constituents do not want a new prison.

The Government wants to turn Dover's Connaught Barracks into an open prison, but the local population are vehemently opposed to the idea.

Gwyn has a meeting with the Home Secretary, John Reid, on Monday but will he listen or is it all another done deal?

Back in the studio, Norman Baker adds his voice to the prison debate as he explains his concerns over the planned expansion of Lewes Prison.

Prisons have to go somewhere, so why not an old army barracks? Let us know what you think.

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Please text to let us know whether you think that the South East is drowning in quangos!

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News and views...

Simon Finlay Editor of the Folkestone Herald joins Paul for a final look at the stories making the political news in the South East this week.

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