Title

Calls to read before burning clearly came too early for the go-ahead department for culture media and sport (DCMS). Led by charismatic secretary of state Jeremy Hunt, revelling in the afterglow of an adulatory Sunday Times profile casting him as prime minister in waiting, praise perhaps not entirely unconnected to the decision allowing Newscorp to bid for the remainder of BskyB, the department is shaking-off any historic legacy for being the ‘ministry of fun.' Keenly aware of the need to take action ahead of the spending review and public bodies Bill, the DCMS jumped the gun last July by announcing plans for reforming many among its 55 quangos. But light shone by the National Audit Office into the department's financial management raises serious questions about how and on what assumptions key decisions were taken. As the timeworn army adage has it, failing to plan is planning to fail. In the spending watchdog's assessment, culture officials stand accused of making unreliable estimates for the programme and of neglecting to ascertain the financial penalties for major liabilities such cancelling property leases or settling crystallised pension liabilities. Some 14 DCMS bodies were affected including the museums, libraries and archives council (MLA) the National Lottery Commission, Sport England and UK Sport. Most famously the UK Film Council, whose praises were sung by Colin Firth after his Oscar acceptance speech for The King's Speech was axed. In fairness it had been official policy since 2009 to merge it with British Film Council and divest other functions. The quangos collective gross annual expenditure was £148m and they held £86m in assets between them. However, rather than approach its arm's length bodies to gather information on how much it would cost to merge or abolish them, culture department officials instead extrapolated anticipated costs from figures developed in scenario planning for the spending review. Whatever lay behind their intentions or motivations, whether arrogance or timidity, failure by officials to make direct inquiries betokens a breakdown in trust and respect between the sponsor department and its agencies. In consequence, the NAO says the culture department was ‘not in a position to estimate reliably what the cost of closing its bodies was, the value of future savings or what the pay-back period would be.' Despite a £39m fund to cover the costs of general restructuring DCMS has still not identified what the costs would be, or how much bodies themselves are expected to carry. Amyas Morse, head of the NAO said the department's quango restructuring has left ‘organisations exposed and unprepared for the future' resulting in ‘high overall costs or the displacement of costs elsewhere.' Jonathan Werran is editor of Governetz Public Property

Title

WHITEHALL

Inside View

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