That mysterious lobby group called the TaxPayers’ Alliance has come up with some interesting data on Britain’s ever-growing menagerie of quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations. But it seems to have missed a few tricks where the legal sector is concerned.
A newly published ‘Quango Rich List’ identifies 1,472 quango staff who received more than £100,000 in total remuneration in 2023/24. We taxpayers are invited to disapprove, though in some cases a generous wedge seems justified. It is quite reassuring, for example, that someone thinks the head of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is worth a decent sum.
Some salaries are more questionable, however. The revelation that Channel 4’s CEO earns four times as much as the prime minister attracted some comment, as did the appearance of seven Visit Britain quangocrats on the rich list. And, much as we all love the Natural History Museum (pictured), does it really need 12 people on six-figure salaries? Likewise the British Film Institute.
The choice of legal quangos looks a little eccentric. Our beloved super-regulator the Legal Services Board apparently employs six people in the £100,000+ bracket. The legal ombudsman is there too (£132,000 plus £9,000 pension). A little puzzling is the inclusion of HM Courts & Tribunals Service (19 individuals). Likewise, is the Official Solicitor and Public Trustee (no information) properly a quango? Or the Government Legal Department, which has only four six-figure earners – thin salaries compared with colleagues in the City.
But there was no mention at all of the Solicitors Regulation Authority or the Bar Standards Board. All very scattergun.
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