There Is Waste And Then There Is Waste.

As the Lords voice scepticism about the "bonfire of the quangos", there is embarrassment for Sir Bob Kerslake, who has just arrived as permanent secretary to Eric Pickles at the CLG. While Pickles ignites the bonfire, Kerslake is there to carry the petrol. But it will require steady hands, not to mention a brass neck. For Sir Bob has some explaining to do about the performance of the Home and Communities Agency, the quango he has just left. According to the latest Treasury benchmarking indicators for 2009-10, spending at the HCA on finance divided by its staff was £3,981. That's a lot compared with £1,282 at another of the department's quangos, the Audit Commission, one of the very first to be thrust into the flames. Average working days lost for sickness at the HCA: 8.4 – compared with 5.7 for the Audit Commission and 4.9 for the Communities Department itself. The cost of procurement at the HCA: 0.8% of turnover; at the hated Audit Commission: 0.1%. The HCA spent a whopping £7,997 for each of its full-time staff on offices compared with £3,252 for the Audit Commission. It spent 4.1% on press and communications, while the detested Audit Commission spent just 2%. The squeeze goes on, but in the land of Eric there are quangos and then there are quangos. There is waste and then there is waste.