Horticulture quangos feel government axe

17:20 14th October 2010

A number of quangos related to the world of horticulture have felt the force of the government's cuts.

Cabinet officer minister Francis Maude today (October 14th) announced the decision to scrap almost 200 quangos and merge some others.

One of the garden and greenhouse-related bodies to suffer could be the Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal, which has been placed under consideration.

Meanwhile, the Olympic Park Legacy Company has been devolved and a number of other bodies shut down completely.

While the Environment Agency and Natural England have been retained, they will be transformed into "leaner, more efficient front-line delivery bodies", Mr Maude promised.

"As part of the government's commitment to radically increase the transparency and accountability of all public services, we are reforming a large number of public bodies," he added.

The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew is set to remain open, but only because it performs a "technical function that should remain independent of government".

The government has been making cuts across the country as it seeks to reduce the massive fiscal deficit.