Ever wondered who runs our driving licences, maintains our railways, or keeps our food standards in check? Chances are, it's an arm's length body (ALB). This week, we're excited to share our newly published interactive Arm's Length Bodies Landscape analysis, offering insight into these crucial yet often misunderstood organisations.
What are ALBs?
We can think of ALBs as the government's extended family. While they're not government departments, they deliver vital public services using public funding. From the DVLA handling your driving licence, to the British Council promoting UK culture abroad, these organisations touch our daily lives in countless ways. The vast majority performs independent advisory duties, and as such are relatively small organizations.
There are three main types of ALBs:
- Executive Agencies (like the DVLA and Met Office)
- Non-Departmental Public Bodies (such as the British Council and the Environment Agency)
- Non-Ministerial Departments (including HMRC and the Food Standards Agency)
The details that might surprise you
- While there are 305 ALBs across the UK, the largest 10 of them account for about 90% of all ALB government funding.
- The biggest spending function of ALBs is in grants - to ensure funding for critical public services, such as the NHS and schools, is properly allocated.
- NHS England, HMRC, and Network Rail are among the largest ALBs.
What's new in our analysis?
Unlike previous reports, our new interactive website lets you dive deep into the data. You can explore different aspects of ALBs, compare their sizes, and understand their various roles. For instance, while some ALBs manage massive budgets, many others serve purely as advisory functions with minimal government funding.
Why this matters
Understanding our ALBs isn't just about number-crunching - it's about ensuring these independent organisations work as efficiently as possible to seamlessly support and deliver public services.Think of it as solving a complex puzzle - you need to see all the pieces clearly before you can make improvements.
Bringing the data to life
What makes this year's analysis truly groundbreaking is our shift to Quarto, an innovative open-source publishing tool. Instead of static reports filled with numbers, we've created an interactive, dynamic website where you can explore the ALB landscape yourself. You can dive into any area that you find interesting through interactive visualisations that bring the data to life. Using Quarto's capabilities, we'll keep the analysis up to date and track how users engage with the data. It's part of our commitment to making complex government information more accessible and meaningful to everyone who needs it.
Whether you're a public servant, researcher, or just curious about how your tax pounds are spent, dive into our publication. It's time we understood these crucial organisations better!
Leave a comment