Monday, March 26, 2007

Government scraps two year old quango in favour of super-quango

The Government has announced that it is to create a new super-quango called Animal Health on April 1st (presumably it is not a joke). The super-quango will merge the current State Veterinary Service with the Dairy Hygiene and Egg Marketing Inspectorates and the Wildlife Licensing and Registration Service.

They even have a flashy new logo (pictured) which I'm sure was commissioned at an exceptionally cheap price. I imagine the cost of merging the office, the stationary, office moves, job changes etc won't cost alot either.

The State Veterinary Service was formed in 2005 so its managed to exist for a whole two years before being axed. When it was launched, the DEFRA minister Ben Bradshaw said,
'[t]he development of the SVS as an agency provides real opportunities for better strategic liaison in public health and animal health and welfare at a national, regional and local level, and for the SVS to develop its capabilities to the full.'
Presumably he's now tacitly saying that wasn't true? After all, the merger is apparently about efficiency, so by implication the previous set-up was inefficient. What better way I ask you is there than spedning money on a merger and creating a bigger bureaucracy to solve a problem you created in the first place? Pass the sellotape someone, they found another crack!

3 comments:

SimonW said...

Perhaps the name "Animal Health" is preparing us for the rebranding of the NHS as "Human Health"

The best bit of the press release is the quote from the Chief Executive.

"We plan to become one organisation in every sense. Already, Dairy Hygiene and Egg Marketing staff share premises with us or will do so after our merger and we will continue with this theme. "

She obviously views colocation as the the most important part of a meger ...one day the government will realise bigger is not always better, it just adds complexity.

Anonymous said...

Reason given for "reduction" in Q4 2006 Civil Servant numbers

"The decrease by DEFRA mainly represents the transfer of employees to the newly established Natural England, a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB).

Miss Millies Band does seem to have a bit of a reorganisation addiction.

Perhaps he has been groomed by the Master of Ambiguity prior to his relocation.

haddock said...

does the logo allude to the of the killing of animals in a ritual manner with a knife instead of being properly stunned prior to killing; it looks like a dagger being protected in some way.