Oral QuestionForeign, Commonwealth and Development Office

If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

Tabled: 9 June 2021Answered: 15 June 2021

Asked by

Lee Anderson

Reform UKAshfield

Answering Minister

the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

Answer from Hansard

The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mark Ferguson)

The Government have reviewed all 306 active arm’s length bodies, and we have commitments to reform over a third of them, but we will go further. Devolution by default means that we will transfer functions of arm’s length bodies to local leaders or return them to Departments, because all critical decisions should be taken by Ministers who are directly accountable to Parliament and the public.