HUNTING THE QUARC: AN INSTITUTION WITHOUT A ROLE?
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1987.tb00675.x |
| Author | SIMON BOOTH,CHRIS MOORE |
| Date | 01 December 1987 |
| Published date | 01 December 1987 |
NOTES
AND
SURVEYS
HUNTING THE QUARC: AN INSTITUTION WITHOUT A ROLE?
Introduction
There is a cynical proverb that work expands to fill the time available for its
completion. This can be translated into an organizational context as ’organizations
expand to fill the space available’. Organizations abhor a vacuum.
As
they grow
they fill all the available gaps between themselves and the outside policy com-
munity. This growth in the public sector concerns not simply central government
departments, but also the complex network
of
non-departmental bodies commonly
known
as Quangos, which present very difficult problems
of
definition and control
(Hood 1979).
A
primary objective of the government inquiry into these organizations in 1980
was that they should have to justify their existence much more strongly in future
(Pliatzky 1980). Such organizations (which include both major executive bodies
such as the Manpower Services Commission
(MSC)
and their advisory committees
at regional and local level) should be subjected to hard questioning about their
continued effectiveness and purpose.
This article focuses on the role of the
MSC’s
advisory committees. By examining
the relationship between the three tiers of the
MSC’S
organization
-
the centre,
regional level, and local areas
-
we suggest that an anachronism has developed
concerning the role of the regional advisory committee in Scotland. Tested against
both ideal theoretical models of organizational health (for example, Perrow 1970)
and against practical tests (Pliatzy 1980), the continued case for such a body in
operational terms seems tenuous. Other political factors may explain why the
Scottish committee continues to exist, but this has little to do with the effective
and efficient planning and delivery of policy. We suggest that there are four options
for the organization’s future. Firstly, its abolition; secondly, its retention; thirdly,
internal delegation within the
MSC;
fourthly, devolution of powers and resources
to a revitalized Scottish committee.
The
MSC
in
Scotland
The
MSC
is extremely significant to the Scottish economy.
In
1985-86 it spent
nearly 2134 million on training and employment activities in Scotland; this is
Public Administration Vol.
65
Winter
1987
(455-466)
0
Royal
Institute
of
Public Administration
ISSN
0033-3298
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