UNELECTED QUANGOS GIVEN GREEN LIGHT FOR SELF-PRESERVATION
The coalition government promised to dismantle quangos and give more
responsibility to local people. A great concept but unless government
ministers change their mindset from prehistoric to 21st century, these changes
will not happen in an open and transparent way.
Take
the current Review of National Parks Governance Arrangements as an
example. National Park Authorities' members are unelected – and always
have been. This review could be the
first opportunity for residents, businesses and visitors of National Parks to
give their views, comments and ideas on the best way forward – after all; they know
what is best value for money in their communities more than anyone else, and
furthermore, they should not be denied the opportunity to directly elect these
members.
Defra’s Minister for Natural Environment and
Fisheries, Richard Benyon, met with the chairs and CEOs of English National
Parks on 7 September “to discuss the remit for the governance review,
current methods of community engagement and options for greater local
accountability”. Defra will “launch a
consultation document for the public to comment on options for
streamlining the current governance arrangements and possible changes to a
national park authority’s responsibilities.
The outcome of the consultation will be announced in the spring”. Richard Benyon also states that he has “encouraged”
national parks to ensure that opportunities for local consultation processes
are fully utilised. One National Park
Authority Chairman states “he [The Minister] made it clear that he intended to launch a
consultation early in November on governance and engagement – with the NPAs facilitating the consultation process itself”.
It is clear that these options will be put
forward to Defra by the National park authorities (which traditionally have a
democratic deficit) before the general public are asked to comment on a
“consultation document”.
National Park residents know from past experience that NPAs will only
consult the public up to the point of legal requirement. This is just short of a whitewash and will do
nothing to protect the socio-economic well being of rural communities if these
authorities are only interested in self-preservation. It is fundamentally not good enough for Defra to sit on the
fence and merely encourage national parks to consult with
residents. For “Big Society” to grow
healthily, Defra should show a willingness to embrace it, whatever the outcome.
If other government departments use these tactics
when it comes to reviewing their own quangos, it may only reveal the
shallowness of this coalition’s “Programme for Government” and that after all
the hype and spin, you cannot change a dinosaur into a 21st century
‘power to the people’ machine without firstly changing the mindsets of civil
servants.