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Keywords

ALB, Arm’s Length Bodies, Public Bodies, Quangos, Public Servants, Civil Servants

About the ALB Landscape Analysis 2023/24

Frequently Asked Questions

You say there are 306 ALBs that are currently active, but the dataset only shows 253 rows, why is this?

While there are 253 rows in the data, certain bodies are represented in the dataset as a single row, to avoid double counting of their resources. There is a column on each summary table called ‘Number Of ALBs’ and a column in the machine-readable dataset called ‘overall_body_numbers’ which provides details on these ALBs. If you add these values together, they will total to the 306 ALBs that are currently active. The most prominent example of this are the Advisory Committees On Justices Of The Peace, which are 44 Advisory NDPBs represented as a single line in the data.

Why is there missing data for certain ALBs?

The data provided below was returned to the Cabinet Office at the discretion of ALBs and their sponsoring departments. While every effort was made to ensure the data was complete as possible, not all ALBs could answer each question. Questions about specific missing datapoints should be directed to the ALB or the ALB’s sponsoring department.

Why do some ALBs not report RDEL spending split into Administrative and Programme spending?

While RDEL Admin and Programme spending is readily available for most ALBs, it could not be provided for certain ALBs. There are a number of reasons for this:
Some ALBs have trading fund status, wherein their spending is not recorded within RDEL, CDEL and AME categories. As such, these ALBs will typically report £0 for these types of spending.
Other ALBs operate on a cost-recovery model, wherein they carry out work on behalf of their sponsor department and charge them to recoup the costs of the work, meaning they do not have a delegated budget in the same way other ALBs do.
Small ALBs, such as Advisory and Tribunal NDPBs may only convene periodically, and therefore do not typically have a delegated budget from their sponsor department. Instead, any spending by these ALBs is often taken from their sponsor department’s budget, and often only covers items such as travel expenses for their chair or board.

Methodology: Data collection

The data for this report was collected by Cabinet Office commissioning departments to return data for the ALBs that they sponsor. As such the data reflects what was reported to Cabinet Office by the departments.

This is a live dataset which can be subject to updates if departments wish to change their figures. Any changes made to the data will be highlight in the Changes To This Document section at the bottom of this page.

Resources: Data on ALBs

You can explore the data used for this analysis by visiting our ALB Data Explorer tool, which provides more granular insights into each ALB. This tool will let you build your own charts and tables with our data, so you can make comparisons between different ALBs.

The entire dataset for this analysis covering 2023/24 can also be downloaded by using the button below.

Historic Data on ALBs

Datasets covering previous financial years from 2022/23, and 2019/20 back to 2012/13 can also be found here: Public Bodies Publications. The Public Bodies Directory is a publication which has evolved over a number of years, and there have been numerous changes in the scope and definitions of variables collected for these historic publications. As such, care should be taken when making comparisons with data covering previous financial years.

Resources: About ALB classifications

ALBs are classified, among other factors, on their level of independence from their sponsoring department, as outlined in the ALB sponsorship code of good practice. Executive agencies are typically more closely aligned with their department who often define the policies that they must follow, however the EA can decide the operational details of how to implement those policies. Departments can’t set the policies of NDPBs and NMDs but can set the strategic framework which outlines their overarching goals. Non-ministerial departments are usually considered the most independent as they typically have their own direct relationship with HM Treasury for negotiating their budgets.

NDPBs are further classified based on their function. Advisory NDPBs perform only advisory functions whereas Executive NDPBs typically deliver frontline services to the wider public. These subclassifications can inform the way that NDPBs operate. For example, Advisory NDPBs typically operate without a dedicated workforce, and their activities are typically funded directly from within their sponsoring department’s budget. In contrast Executive NDPBs typically have their own dedicated workforce, and have budgets allocated to them by their sponsoring department and HM Treasury.

The Public Bodies Handbook provides a much more detailed breakdown of classifications of public bodies and ALBs sponsored by the UK government.

Features of ALB classifications

Source: HM Treasury managing public money

Cabinet Office | ALB Landscape Analysis 2023-24

Acronyms and Definitions

ALB - Arm’s Length Body: - Arm’s Length Bodies are a specific category of public body that are administratively classified by the Cabinet Office. They are a critical delivery arm of the government, providing public services and goods across the United Kingdom.¹
Public Body: - A public body is a formally established organisation that is publicly funded to deliver a public or government service, though not as a ministerial department. The term refers to a wide range of public sector entities.²
FTE - Full Time Equivalent: - A “full-time equivalent unit”, sometimes abbreviated as FTE, is a unit to measure employed persons in a way that makes them comparable although they may work a different number of hours per week. The unit is obtained by comparing an employee’s average number of hours worked to the average number of hours of a full-time worker. A full-time person is therefore counted as one FTE, while a part-time worker gets a score in proportion to the hours he or she works. For example, a part-time worker employed for 20 hours a week where full-time work consists of 40 hours, is counted as 0.5 FTE.³
TME - Total Managed Expenditure: - The total amount of spending based on the sum of Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL), the amount that is allocated to and spent by government departments and their ALBs, and AME spending, spending that is difficult to control within expenditure limits as it is spent on programmes which are demand-led.⁴
RDEL - Resource Departmental Expenditure Limits: - Resource spending that is spent on day to day resources and administration costs.⁵
CDEL - Capital Departmental Expenditure Limits: - Capital spending that is spent on investment and things that will create growth in the future.⁶
AME- Annually Managed Expenditure: - Annually managed expenditure, or AME, is more difficult to explain or control as it is spent on programmes which are demand-led – such as welfare, tax credits or public sector pensions. AME spending is also often used when accounting for movements in provisions, where an ALB may have future liabilities to reflect within their financial statements.⁷
Contingent Labour: - Additional staff who are typically employed as contractors, agency workers, and temps. They will often, but not always, be recruited to undertake work in a Business As Usual (BAU) environment, and are generally paid on a time-based rate rather than delivery of an output or outcome.
Consultancy - Additional services that provide advice to fill a knowledge gap within an organisation. This can involve providing solution-oriented options and recommendations, typically to solve challenges during organisational change. The role of consultants is typically time-limited and focussed on outputs and solutions, and consultants are not typically classified as staff that operate within the structure of the organisation employing them.

Changes To This Document

Revisions

Since publication, this document has had 1 changes for revisions within the data, the details of which are below:

Cabinet Office | ALB Landscape Analysis 2023-24

Updates

Since publication, this publication has had 3 updates, the details of which are below: