QUANGO

The term "quango" is in the news in the U.K. It's shorthand for quasi-autonomous national government organisation. Think of it as a non-government organisation (NGO) created by government pretending to be independent of government. This allows a government or organization to distance themselves from decisions made by others who are not elected. What happens is such organizations are supposed to be autonomous but are, in fact, stocked with party members.

The Audit Commission in the U.K. paid nearly £60,000 to a lobbying firm with links to Labour for advice on how to undermine Tory frontbenchers who challenged its activities.

Its role is to monitor local government, health, housing, community safety and fire and rescue services in England. The quango says of its role: “We promote value for money for taxpayers, auditing the £200 billion spent by 11,000 local public bodies.”

The quasi-government agency is chaired by a chief executive who makes £208,000 a year. He also happens to be a former Labour councillor and associate of Ken Livingstone.

Why was the Audit Commission alarmed enough to contact lobbyists? The Tories who look fairly certain to take over the government in the next elections in March want council services to be vetted at a local level, not by regulators based in Whitehall. The horror of that is that someone actually trusted enough by voters will be charged with auditing the expenditures.

The lobbying firm advised the Commission to " foment a rebellion in the Tory grassroots." and advises them to put up a "strong local lobbying response in order to mitigate and combat the activities of Eric Pickles”. (A Tory who is leading an investigation of Quangos.)