New England Online > Government & Politics > Executive > Crown Statutory Agencies
Crown Statutory Agencies
Crown Statutory Agencies are organs of the government managed and funded at arms length of the government of the day. These agencies are unlike the rest of the civil service in that they enjoy full autonomy from the relevant minister, and usually report straight to parliament. Crown statutory agencies are usually run by a board of governors, with a honorary chairman as head of the board. The board in turn appoints a director-general to oversee the day-to-day organisation and administration of the organisation. As of June 2052, there are xx crown statutory agencies.
Types
There are three principal types of Crown Statutory Agency in New England. Each have their own different purposes, and carry put their responsibilities in slightly different ways.
Advisors - These bodies consist of boards which advise ministers on particular policy areas. They are often supported by a small secretariat from the parent department and any expenditure is paid for by that ministry or department.
Providers - These bodies usually deliver a particular public service and are overseen by a board rather than ministers. Appointments are made by the King on the advice of the Parliament. They employ their own staff and are allocated their own budgets. Examples include the Electricity Commission or the New England National University.
Regulators - These bodies have regulatory jurisdiction in a particular sector of industry. Examples include the Communications Regulations Commission or the Environment Agency.
Functions & Powers
The creation and power of a crown statutory agency is generally defined by an Act of Parliament. The act sets out the organisation, management and area of responsibility for the particular agency. The Act will also ensure that the agency is a separate and independent legal identity to any other department or agency. Parliament subsequently has the power to set the budget for this agency and also has the power to abolish the agency at any time with a further Act of Parliament.
Crown statutory agencies do not usually operate as a commercial body, but instead have a role in the provision of vital services that are considered to be too important to be subject to the sort of erratic financial speculation seen in a deregulated market. Therefore, most crown statutory agencies act as de facto monopolies for the service they provide. All of these "provisioning agencies" are in turn regulated by both the Public Utilities Pricing Regulator and the Auditor-General.
Executive agencies are those bodies responsible to a department and minister, but are still required to be managerially and budgetary separate in order to carry out some part of the administration of government.
