In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body (NDPB)—often referred to and also known as a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation or a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies. They are not an integral part of any government department and carry out their work at arm's length from ministers, although ministers are ultimately responsible to Parliament for the activities of bodies sponsored by their department.
The term includes the four types of NDPB (executive, advisory, tribunal and independent monitoring boards) but excludes public corporations, National Health Service (NHS) bodies and public broadcasters (BBC, Channel 4 and S4C).
In 2010 the UK's Conservative-Liberal coalition published a review of NDPBs recommending closure or merger of nearly two hundred bodies, and the transfer of others to the private sector. This process is colloquially termed the "bonfire of the quangos".
Read more about Non-departmental Public Body: Contrast With Executive Agencies, Non-ministerial Departments and Quangos, History, Numbers and Powers, Criticism, Classification in National Accounts
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