Public bodies
We look at public bodies, their role in government and how they can be made more effective.
Our latest analysis
See all
Tracker: The government’s proposed new public bodies
What were the public bodies promised in Labour’s election manifesto and what has been delivered since its entry into government?
How can the OBR improve the way it judges the supply-side effects of policy?
Better forecasts will lead to better budgets.
How does the OBR estimate the demand impact of government policies?
The role of fiscal multipliers in economic forecasting.
Tracker: The government’s proposed new public bodies
What were the public bodies promised in Labour’s election manifesto and what has been delivered since its entry into government? Our tracker sets out Labour's plans for GB Energy, the National Wealth Fund and more.
Read our tracker
Life cycle of a public body
When should public bodies exist?
It's time to rewrite the government's outdated tests for creating and closing public bodies.
Licence to lead: lessons for public bodies from the pandemic response in health
Government should trust public bodies to lead in crises.
Establishing new public bodies – what have we learnt?
Practitioners and experts from economic and trade bodies discuss the lessons from their experience of setting up new public bodies.
Watch the event
Public appointments
Public appointments are still a work in progress
The Cabinet Office is working to reduce delays and improve diversity – but there is more to do.
Public appointments in 2023
There has been some promising progress in improving the public appointments system, but it remains vulnerable to abuse.
Reforming public appointments
How the new prime minister can make public appointments faster and fairer, by reforming an often chaotic public appointments process.
The public appointments process
How the public appointments process is run and who plays a role in it.
The appointment and conduct of departmental NEDs
Gina Coladangelo’s role as a departmental non-executive director has exposed the growing need to clarify rules around appointment and conduct.
Public bodies explained
Public bodies
Public bodies deliver a public or government service, though not as a ministerial department.
Public bodies: governance and funding
How public bodies' objectives are set, and the funding and other constraints within which they must operate.
Public bodies: scrutiny and accountability
How public bodies are scrutinised and held accountable for performance, as well as how they can be directed by ministers.
When should public bodies speak to opposition parties?
Guidance for public bodies can be less clear than for government departments, but the same principles apply.
Whitehall Monitor 2022
Major reform is needed for government to respond to crises like the pandemic while simultaneously delivering long-term policy goals.
Chartered public bodies
A royal charter is a document issued by the monarch that gives independent legal standing to an organisation.
Public bodies reform
Public bodies reform
The Declaration on Government Reform published in June 2021 committed the government to “commence a review programme for Arm’s Length Bodies".
IfG response to the Maude review on civil service reform
The Maude review will be an important reference document for whoever lives in No.10.
The government would be wrong to wage another war on ‘quangos’
Government should be more specific about what it wants public bodies to deliver and where it can do without them.
Earlier IfG work on public bodies
Read Before Burning
Our recommendations for increasing the effectiveness and accountability of arm's-length bodies.
It takes two
Our report looks at what is needed for effective relations between government departments and arm’s-length bodies.
Out of the Ashes
What recommendations the next government should act on to truly reform arm’s-length government in the UK.
The Strange Case of Non-Ministerial Departments
A deeper look at this obscure category of government bodies, which cover organisations from the Royal Mint to the National Crime Agency.
Our public bodies team
Matthew Gill
Programme Director
How to set up a public body
Shivani Chivukula
Research Assistant