We need to get rid of some of the employment-related quangos, says the CIPD

According to John Philpott, public policy director and chief economist at the CIPD, a "Byzantine system" of quangos has emerged covering employment, skills, pay, equality and employee relations. He thinks a review of their functions is long overdue.

He said: "It is far from clear how much value for money the existing jobs-related quangos provide to the taxpayer - a review of their size, efficiency and remit is long overdue. There is a strong case for limiting the remit of quangos and streamlining their functions to reduce duplication and possible over-staffing.

"One possibility we would strongly recommend is to streamline several of the existing bodies into a single Workplace Commission with the simple remit of spreading best practice on how to boost productivity across both the private and public sectors.

"Politicians with a genuine interest in building a ‘bonfire of quangos' should, be mindful of the difficulty of setting such a bonfire alight. The ‘quangocrats' are invariably powerful and influential members of the broader political establishment and often highly skilled in the art of self-preservation, with many supporters and acolytes ready to defend them in the corridors of power. Taking on the quangos is always easier said than done."