Quango 'kings and queens' earning up to £5,000 a day for part-time work

By STEVE DOUGHTY
Last updated at 7:46 AM on 21st December 2009
 A select group of quangocrats are earning up to £5,000 a day for part-time work on state agencies, authorities and commissions, research reveals.
Among them are quango 'kings and queens' who jump from state job to state job with the help of Government patronage.
The report found that nearly 1,000 individuals made an average of £356 a day last year from their state-appointed positions as board members of public bodies.
Sir Callum McCarthy.
Sir Callum McCarthy of the Financial Services Authority
Among them 92 quango chairmen earned on average £642 a day  -  with the best-paid, Sir Callam McCarthy of the Financial Services Authority, taking home £4,972 a day.
Quango board members regularly sit on more than one publicly-funded body, the TaxPayers' Alliance report found.
It looked at 100 of the biggest quangos, which provide paid seats for 932 board members, including 96 chairmen.
On average a quango chairman picked up £49,793 last year for a two or three-day week.
Ben Farrugia of the TaxPayer's Alliance said: 'Our study suggests that instead of serving taxpayers' interests, some non- executive members and chairs may put their quango's interests first.
'Many senior figures are career quangocrats, moving from one quango to another.
'With a pressing need to save money by cutting these quangos back, these individuals could be a serious barrier to any Government hoping to save money.
'Serious action needs to be taken to increase democratic control over quangos so they are genuinely accountable to ordinary people.'
The report found that 1,620 people were appointed to places on the boards of quangos and NHS advisory bodies in the financial year that ended in March.
One in six chairmen said they were politically active, with Labour supporters outnumbering Tories by more than eight to one.
However, the report said that in the last year the Conservatives were in power, quango appointments-were skewed in the same way towards Tory supporters.
On average, a quango board member took home £8,538  - mainly for attending occasional board meetings.
Of the 932 quango board members, 47 served on more than one public body. The report said: 'Quango board appointments are something of a carousel, with members and chairs repeatedly moving from one board to another.'

...and here come the King and Queen of the Commission Carousel
Roy McNulty


Deirdre Hutton


'Named and shamed'

MPs called yesterday for public sector organisations who pay excessive salaries to managers to be 'named and shamed' by a Top Pay Commission, they said. The Commons Public Admininstration Select Committee said the watchdog should be created to police benchmarks for pay. It also called for public sector salaries and bonuses to be published, in the same way as those for private firms.


 
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troughateers all of them, we don't need them and the money can go to upgrading our armed forces accomodation
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Since the country is in such deperate financial straits then the Prebudget speech by Darling should have said that all quango salaries would be cut by 50% and all quango expenses cancelled with immediate effect.

This is simply a way of looking after the Government's mates, whatever complexion, and has no place in a democracy. I am glad there is at least one party that will cut back on these quangos. Pity the LibLabCon Party can't bring itself to do the same!
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"Named and Shamed" ... Please look around you. there is no shame in our civic society anymore. What is the point of "naming and shaming" when this is considered as "my moment of fame" ?
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It would be interesting to see how much of this quango money ends up in the labour party's bank accounts.
The salaries paid to these non-elected quangocrats are extraordinarily high considering ALL of the nonsensical rubbish that they produce, is this just another way that labour have found to steal our money and boost it's own wealth from contributions, to the labour party, from labour quangocrats who head these committees?
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If the 1,150 quangos were abolished immediately - saving the UK taxpayer countless billions of pounds - Joe Public would be struggling to notice any difference in central or local government.

Quango = rip-off.

MP = rip-off.

Lords and Ladies = rip-off.
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The BNP have said they are going to have a ' serious ' look at this Quango farce....... and that - dear reader - is good enough for me !

They have also promised to give the British their country back.....
To remove us from the ' evil empire '.... which is the EU.
And to restore financial well-being - prosperity - and pride to my nation..

BNP... it is.
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