Quango facts for kids

A quango (say "KWAN-go") is a special kind of organization, mostly found in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The word "quango" is actually a short way of saying something longer, like "quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation."

Think of it this way: governments have a lot of jobs to do. Some jobs are about making big decisions and creating new rules (this is called making policy). Other jobs are about actually doing the work that comes from those rules, like running prisons, collecting taxes, or looking after the country's borders.

Quangos were created to help with these "doing the work" jobs. They are funded by the government but are set up to work a bit like an independent group. This means they can focus on their specific task without being directly controlled by government ministers every day. The idea is that they can do these practical jobs more efficiently than a regular government department. If something goes wrong, the quango is usually held responsible.

The word QUANGO can stand for a few different things:

• quasi non-governmental organisation
• quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation
• quasi-autonomous national government organisation
• In the UK, the official name for these bodies is a non-departmental public body or NDPB.

How Quangos Started

The idea of a "quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization" was first used in 1967 by a person named Alan Pifer from the Carnegie Foundation. He wrote about how organizations that get money from the public could still be independent and responsible.

Later, a British person named Anthony Barker shortened this long name to "quango" during a meeting. Many quangos were created, especially from the 1980s onwards.

In 1997, the UK government described a quango (or non-departmental public body) as: "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 government Ministers." This means they help the government but are not directly part of it.

Quangos in the UK

Quangos have been a big part of how the UK government operates. For example, in 2006-2007, taxpayers helped fund 1,162 quangos, costing nearly £64 billion. That's about £2,550 for every household!

In 2010, the British Government decided to make changes. They planned to close almost 200 quangos and combine 120 others. This was part of a plan to make government more efficient. By August 2012, 106 quangos had either been closed, sold, or had their work taken over by other groups.

Quangos in Scotland

Since Scotland gained its own self-government in 1999, the Scottish government has also set up its own quangos to help with different tasks.

Quangos in the Republic of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland also uses many quangos. In 2006, there were more than 800 quangos there. About 482 were national, and 350 were local. Together, they had over 5,700 people working for them and a total budget of €13 billion each year.

Why Quangos Are Discussed

People have different opinions about quangos. Some believe that by being separate from the main government, quangos can work more like businesses and get things done faster.

However, others worry that quangos might allow elected government ministers to avoid taking responsibility for how public money is spent. Quangos have sometimes been criticized for being undemocratic, too expensive, and for making the government system too large.

For example, The Times newspaper has said that quangos can lead to wasted money and too much bureaucracy (meaning too many rules and processes). In 2005, an author named Dan Lewis claimed that many quangos were not useful and sometimes did the same work as other groups. In 2008, a group called the Taxpayers' Alliance reported that £15 billion was being wasted by regional development agencies, which were quangos set up to help the economy in different areas.