UK ministers consider abolishing hundreds of quangos, sources say
Ministers could introduce legislation to abolish a swathe of quangos in one go as part of the UK government’s plans to restructure the state and cut thousands more civil service job cuts, the Guardian understands.Government sources said they were considering a bill that would speed up the reorganisation of more than 300 arm’s-length organisations that between them spend about £353bn of public money.Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, has written to every Whitehall department asking them to justify each quango or risk being closed, merged, or having powers brought back into the department.Ministers will have to demonstrate the necessity of each one, operating under the presumption that these bodies will be affected unless there is compelling justification for their separate existence, sources said.Keir Starmer told his cabinet last month that they should stop “outsourcing” decisions to regulators and quangos and take more responsibility for their own departments.
NHS England was the first to be scrapped, bringing the health service back under the control of ministers, which they said would avoid duplication, bring greater accountability and save money.More quangos could be identified for abolition as early as this week.Under the Cabinet Office’s review, quangos with significant powers over policies that are of national importance will be brought back into departments, with expert staff retained to work in these areas, although wider civil service job cuts are expected.In cases where it is essential that quangos are independent from ministerial decision-making, for example those with a regulatory function or that scrutinise government or protect the rule of law, then these will remain unaffected.As well as his cuts to quangos, the prime minister is urging departments to make greater use of technology such as artificial intelligence tools to reduce spending and streamline decision-making.
Branded merchandise and staff awaydays for civil servants are set to be curbed as part of the government’s crackdown on what it regards as wasteful spending in the civil service, which also included freezing thousands of procurement cards held by officials.Sign up to First EditionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersafter newsletter promotionMike Clancy, the general secretary of the Prospect union, said: “Specialist civil servants working around the country in arm’s-length bodies do incredibly important work that is often underappreciated in Westminster.If these functions are to be brought back into central departments then there need to be clear objectives and rationale for doing so.“Many arm’s-length bodies have advisory roles and important safety functions, which require independence from central government.There must be clarity on how this would be maintained if organisations are merged.
“Above all, any reorganisation must not jeopardise the essential expertise and specialist skills contained within arm’s-length bodies, and must make it easier to recruit and retain the specialists the civil service needs,”
Meta faces £1.8bn lawsuit over claims it inflamed violence in Ethiopia
Meta faces a $2.4bn (£1.8bn) lawsuit accusing the Facebook owner of inflaming violence in Ethiopia after the Kenyan high court said a legal case against the US tech group could go ahead.The case brought by two Ethiopian nationals calls on Facebook to alter its algorithm to stop promoting hateful material and incitement to violence, as well as hiring more content moderators in Africa. It is also seeking a $2
Roblox gives parents more power over children’s activity on gaming platform
Parents can now block their children from communicating with specific friends or playing certain games on Roblox, an online gaming platform popular with children.The changes form part of a suite of safety updates intended to give parents more control over their child’s experience on the platform.From Wednesday, parents and caregivers who identify themselves with an ID or credit card will have access to three new tools. The friend management tool means they can block anyone on their child’s friends list, preventing their child from exchanging direct messages with that account, and report people they believe are violating Roblox policies.They can also review and change the content maturity level for their child’s account, determining which games their child can access, and obtain detailed screen-time insights
UK needs to relax AI laws or risk transatlantic ties, thinktank warns
Tony Blair’s thinktank has urged the UK to relax copyright laws in order to let artificial intelligence firms build new products, as it warned a tougher approach could strain the transatlantic relationship.The Tony Blair Institute said enforcing firm copyright measures would strain ties with the US, which is poised to announce tariffs on UK goods on Wednesday.Warning that geopolitical considerations require “urgent and adequate attention” while AI policy is being drafted, TBI said: “Without similar provisions in the United States, it would be hard for the UK government to enforce strict copyright laws without straining the transatlantic relationship it has so far sought to nurture.”The thinktank has said that if the UK went down the route of demanding licensing of all UK content used in AI models, it would simply push that development work to other territories where there are less strict copyright laws. To enforce a strict licensing model, the UK would also need to restrict access to models that have been trained on such content, which could include US-owned AI systems
Blanket ban on teen smartphone use ‘potentially detrimental’, says academic
A leading academic tasked by the UK government with reviewing the effects of smartphones on teenagers has suggested blanket bans are “unrealistic and potentially detrimental”.Amy Orben, from the University of Cambridge, will lead the work on children and smartphone use that has been commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) along with a team of other academics from a number of UK universities.Ministers have so far been resistant to implementing any new legal restrictions on social media and smartphones for children that goes further than the current Online Safety Act, which clamps down on harmful content.Some MPs have been pushing for further restrictions that go beyond harmful content – including on access to social media for those under 16, full bans on smartphones in schools or restrictions on social media algorithms that are able to train addictive content on young teenagers.In a paper Orben published this week with four co-authors in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), they said bans and restrictions were unlikely to be effective – though they did advocate for children and teens to have phone-free spaces
Tesla quarterly sales slump 13% amid backlash against Elon Musk
Tesla reported a 13% drop in vehicle sales in the first three months of the year, making it the electric vehicle maker’s worst quarter since 2022. It’s another sign that Elon Musk’s once high-flying electric car company is struggling to attract buyers.The drop is probably due to a combination of factors, including its ageing lineup, competition from rivals and a backlash from Musk’s embrace of rightwing politics. It also is a warning that the company’s first-quarter earnings report later this month could disappoint investors.Tesla reported deliveries of 336,681 vehicles globally in the January-March quarter
Italian police increase security at Tesla dealerships after 17 cars destroyed in Rome fire
Italy’s interior ministry has written to police forces across the country to increase security at Tesla dealerships after 17 of the electric cars made by Elon Musk’s company were destroyed in a fire in Rome.Italy’s state police anti-terrorism unit, Digos, is investigating whether the fire at the Tesla dealership in Torre Angela, a suburb in the east of the capital, was started by anarchists.Firefighters worked for hours to put out the blaze in the early hours of Monday. Drone images showed a row of the burnt-out remains of the vehicles in a parking area of the dealership. Using his social media platform, X, Musk referred to it as “terrorism”
Does the UK have a mental health overdiagnosis problem?
Sir Torquil Norman obituary
Ozempic is hailed as a miracle drug. But how does it affect people with eating disorders?
Plan to increase access to NHS dentists in England ‘a complete failure’, MPs say
‘I didn’t start out wanting to see kids’: are porn algorithms feeding a generation of paedophiles – or creating one?
AI cancer screening rollout should be accelerated in the NHS | Letters