DAVE GRIFFITHSUNIVERSITY OF STIRLING

The Social Networks of the Public Elite

What are quangos?

Quangos are ‘non-departmental public bodies’, ‘extra-governmental organisations’ or ‘quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations’.

They provide a political role in government provision outside the normal political system, elected officialdom and civil service.

Institutions include the Economic and Social Research Council, BBC, Health & Safety Commission, British Library, Royal Mail, British Potato Council, Gangmasters Licensing Authority etc.

Their directors (or quangocrats) are appointed by existing board members or higher quangos. Ministers effectively only veto undesirable individuals and appoint chairs to largest bodies.

“King and Queen of the Commission Carousel”

Steve Doughty, Quango ‘kings and queens’ earning up to £5,000 a day for part-time work, Daily Mail, 21 December 2009http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1237402/The-great-quangocracy-Elite-making-5-000-day-public-bodies.html

“Among them are quango 'kings and queens' who jump from state job to state job with the help of Government patronage.”

“Quango board members regularly sit on more than one publicly-funded body”

What is known about quangocrats?

“Not as much as we think” (Bouckaert and Peters 2003)

Popular perception is they all sit on multiple boards, are white, middle-aged, middle-class men and have strong ties to business and the political classes

Demographic research from surveying smaller quangos typically used to produce these findings

No comprehensive analysis of the largest UK quangos nor attempts to apply more sophisticated techniques to identifying who governs public bodies

Changes in legislation in 2005 opened up access to studying UK quangocrats comprehensively

Data

All Executive Quangos and Public Corporations as at 1st January 2007

Details of 2,858 quangocrats sitting on 187 boardsAll publicly available information gathered on them –

from registers of members interests, web profiles, annual reports, press releases announcing appointments, conflict of interest declarations and appearances in key biographical directories

Details listed of all known employers, boards governed (public, private, voluntary), schools and universities attended, receipt of awards, memberships of clubs and professional bodies, etc.

Over 40,000 individual pieces of information gathered

Examples of quangos

National Cultural bodies: Arts Council; BBC; British Library; British Museum; Tate; UK Sport;

Regional specific: North West Development Agency; Culture North West; National Museums Liverpool, Stonebridge Housing Association Trust;

Sector specific: Architects Registration Board; British Potato Council; Engineering Construction Industry Training Board; Hearing Aid Council; Ofcom; Seafish

Service provision: Bank of England; British Transport Police Authority; Economic and Social Research Council; Firebuy; Standards Board for England

Breakdown of individual’s interests

Male 70%

Average age 57

Biographical directories 30%

Royal honours 17%

Honorary degrees 10%

University attended known 35%

Of which attended Oxbridge or UoL

43%

School attended known 24%

Public school attended known 17%

Governing other public bodies 21%

Corporate directors 17%

Declared political affiliation 6%

Private member clubs 11%

Professional Body membership 33%

Voluntary organisation trustees 26%

DfES (pink)DWP (blue)DTI (purple)

DCLG (green)

DCMS (red)

Classic interlocking directorate diagram

P1 P2 P3 P4 p5

C1 C3 C4 C5C2

Companies

People

Multi-interlocking directorates

P1 P2 P3 P4 p5

C1 C3 C4 C5C2

Companies

People

M1 M2 M3 M4

Museums

Diagram of a totally connected network

More manageable networks

Affiliation to professional bodies

Companies

Charities

School attended

Types of network studied

Boards Component K-core Degree Closeness Diameter

Affiliations to professional bodies 176 176 126 (127) .26943 .32130 3

Boards 187 98 3 (6) .03516 .13335 17

Charities 165 130 9 (10) .12023 .22598 7

Charity - previous 120 67 9 (10) .12505 .30962 8

Clubs 133 124 40 (41) .43673 .43540 7

Corporate Advisor 94 21 3 (7) .05633 .34270 6

Current Educational Links 160 148 17 (35) .36088 .36892 5

Directorships 159 52 4 (5) .03729 .12443 18

Editorial 62 5 3 (4) .05355 .60000 2

Educational 147 111 7 (8) .14436 .27324 6

Educational - Previous 104 52 6 (7) .07862 .31774 8

Employment 160 134 19 (20) .22570 .29808 8

Honorary Degree 119 116 22 (38) .53571 .51388 4

Membership 88 45 16 (17) .22106 .35480 5

Other quangos 156 131 9 (10) .10105 .24863 7

Previous NED 111 27 3 (8) .04487 .21638 9

Professional 169 137 20 (21) .22045 .30765 7

Professional - Previous 146 114 27 (28) .24195 .32511 6

Quango Advisor 170 148 19 (20) .21753 .25898 6

Quango Advisor - previous 156 122 11 (22) .18752 .29341 7

Quango - Previous 158 132 11 (39) .20072 .26708 5

School 166 133 14 (15) .14605 .25675 7

Social organisations 171 129 11 (12) .12162 .25161 7

Social organisations – previous 148 68 11 (12) .11350 .28496 9

University 169 169 56 (112) .40722 .44301 4

University – grouped colleges 169 169 105 (125) .23884 .31993 3

Visiting Professor 87 64 8 (9) .23488 .34140 7

Types of network studied

Boards Component K-core Degree Closeness Diameter

Affiliations to professional bodies 176 176 126 (127) .26943 .32130 3

Boards 187 98 3 (6) .03516 .13335 17

Charities 165 130 9 (10) .12023 .22598 7

Charity - previous 120 67 9 (10) .12505 .30962 8

Clubs 133 124 40 (41) .43673 .43540 7

Corporate Advisor 94 21 3 (7) .05633 .34270 6

Current Educational Links 160 148 17 (35) .36088 .36892 5

Directorships 159 52 4 (5) .03729 .12443 18

Editorial 62 5 3 (4) .05355 .60000 2

Educational 147 111 7 (8) .14436 .27324 6

Educational - Previous 104 52 6 (7) .07862 .31774 8

Employment 160 134 19 (20) .22570 .29808 8

Honorary Degree 119 116 22 (38) .53571 .51388 4

Membership 88 45 16 (17) .22106 .35480 5

Other quangos 156 131 9 (10) .10105 .24863 7

Previous NED 111 27 3 (8) .04487 .21638 9

Professional 169 137 20 (21) .22045 .30765 7

Professional - Previous 146 114 27 (28) .24195 .32511 6

Quango Advisor 170 148 19 (20) .21753 .25898 6

Quango Advisor - previous 156 122 11 (22) .18752 .29341 7

Quango - Previous 158 132 11 (39) .20072 .26708 5

School 166 133 14 (15) .14605 .25675 7

Social organisations 171 129 11 (12) .12162 .25161 7

Social organisations – previous 148 68 11 (12) .11350 .28496 9

University 169 169 56 (112) .40722 .44301 4

University – grouped colleges 169 169 105 (125) .23884 .31993 3

Visiting Professor 87 64 8 (9) .23488 .34140 7

Closeness–degree centralities correlations

200150100500

Degree

1.0000000

0.9000000

0.8000000

0.7000000

0.6000000

0.5000000

0.4000000

Closeness

140120100806040200

Degree

0.9000000

0.8000000

0.7000000

0.6000000

0.5000000

0.4000000

0.3000000

Closness

100806040200

Degree

0.7000000

0.6000000

0.5000000

0.4000000

0.3000000

0.2000000

0.1000000

0.0000000

Closeness

6050403020100

Degree

0.4000000

0.2000000

0.0000000

Closeness

86420

Degree

0.1200000

0.1000000

0.0800000

0.0600000

0.0400000

0.0200000

0.0000000

Closeness

76543210

Degree

0.07

0.06

0.05

0.04

0.03

0.02

0.01

0

Closeness

Core- Composition comparison

05

1015

Co

res

0 5 10 15 20Components

Most networked quangos

Most components

Most cores

Bank of England; British Museum; English Heritage; Higher Education Funding Council for England; Learning and Skills Council; North West Development Agency; National Portrait Gallery; Qualifications and Curriculum Authority; Tate

Arts & Humanities Research Council; National Museum of Science and Industry; Victoria and Albert Museum

BBC; Channel 4; Economic and Social Research Council; Historic Royal Palaces; Medical Research Council; National Gallery; Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Most networked quangos

Most components

Most cores

Bank of England; British Museum; English Heritage; Higher Education Funding Council for England; Learning and Skills Council; North West Development Agency; National Portrait Gallery; Qualifications and Curriculum Authority; Tate

Arts & Humanities Research Council; National Museum of Science and Industry; Victoria and Albert Museum

BBC; Channel 4; Economic and Social Research Council; Historic Royal Palaces; Medical Research Council; National Gallery; Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Least networked quangos

Fewest components

No cores

British Shipbuilders; Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority; Engineering Construction Industry Training Boards; Firebuy; Home Grown Cereals Authority; Horticultural Development Council; Independent Living Funds; Oil and Pipelines Agency; Stonebridge Housing Association Trust; Trinity House; Valuation Tribunal Service

Culture South West; LEASE; Royal Navy Submarine Museum

Football Licensing Authority

Cultural capital of quangocrats

Cultural capital is the glue which bonds together the public elite Through the Bourdieuan concepts of social advantage,

schooling and attendance of the same public sphere Through Ostower’s concepts of cultural institutions

increasing individual’s governance profile

Bonding between social elite and variety of public boards offering opportunity for beneficial advantage

Corporate-related quangos

Regulators Ombudsmen

Architects Registration Board Consumer Council for Water

British Hallmarking Council EnergyWatch

Civil Aviation Authority National Consumer Council

Gambling Commission Ofcom

Gangmasters Licensing Authority

Passenger Focus

Horseracing Betting Levy Board

Pension Protection Fund

Postwatch

‘Regulators’ quangos

Very difficult to find ties not connected to industry

Architects Registration Board’s directors only held ties to the industry

Only unconnected tie for Gangmasters Licensing Authority was to a small tennis club

Strongly bonded within their sector, not requiring outside interference

Ofcom’s ‘connected’ directors

Millie Banjeree: board member for Postwatch and Commission for Judicial Appointments; trustee of Carnegie UK Trust; board member of Tanaka Business School at Imperial College; previously sat on the boards of Channel 4, Prisons Board, Sector Skills Development Agency and Strategic Rail Authority; formerly CEO of ICO Global Communications and a director at British Telecom.

Sara Nathan: board member of Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Appeal, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, ICSTIS, Judicial Appointments Committee and Marshall Scholarships; advises Animal Procedures Committee and Financial Services Authority; formerly Children First’s Commissioner for Lambeth, and board member of Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeal Tribunal and Gambling Review Body; board member of the Jewish Museum; former producer of The Commission for BBC Radio 4, editor of Channel 4 News and programme editor for BBC Radio 5 Live.

Quangos linked by common localised connections

AboveAboveaveragaveragee

BelowBelowaveragaveragee

NoNotiesties

NoNo..

AllAll 64%64% 27%27% 8%8% 434322

EastEast 81%81% 15%15% 4%4% 2525

LondonLondon 80%80% 17%17% 3%3% 141411

West MidlandsWest Midlands 73%73% 21%21% 6%6% 3131

Northern Northern IrelandIreland

71%71% 14%14% 1414%%

77

South EastSouth East 69%69% 25%25% 6%6% 7272

South WestSouth West 52%52% 36%36% 1111%%

3939

North WestNorth West 50%50% 44%44% 6%6% 1616

WalesWales 50%50% 39%39% 1111%%

1717

East MidlandsEast Midlands 48%48% 38%38% 1414%%

2121

YorkshireYorkshire 48%48% 29%29% 2424%%

1919

ScotlandScotland 36%36% 45%45% 1919%%

4646

North EastNorth East 25%25% 75%75% 0%0% 88

Individuals by percentage

Top Top quartilquartil

ee

SeconSecondd

quartilquartilee

Third Third quartilquartil

ee

BottoBottomm

quartilquartilee

LondonLondon 44%44% 22%22% 22%22% 12%12%

South EastSouth East 26%26% 18%18% 30%30% 26%26%

North WestNorth West 26%26% 13%13% 43%43% 17%17%

South WestSouth West 23%23% 30%30% 14%14% 34%34%

EastEast 22%22% 52%52% 19%19% 7%7%

Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland 22%22% 22%22% 33%33% 22%22%

WalesWales 14%14% 29%29% 24%24% 33%33%

West MidlandsWest Midlands 11%11% 39%39% 21%21% 29%29%

YorkshireYorkshire 8%8% 16%16% 28%28% 48%48%

ScotlandScotland 6%6% 18%18% 12%12% 64%64%

East MidlandsEast Midlands 5%5% 27%27% 27%27% 41%41%

North EastNorth East 0%0% 30%30% 10%10% 60%60%

Organisations by quartile

Network joined by London external bodies

Conclusions

Quangos are highly interconnected with strong bonds, across many areas, between quangocrats

Political and corporate interests provide no influence

Cultural capital important for gaining access to central quangos

Many quangos are ‘self-marginalised’ from informal networks of governance

Networks are heavily London-centric with other areas (self?-)marginalised

Positioning of academics

05

1015

Co

res

5 10 15 20Components

Academics

05

1015

Co

res

0 5 10 15 20Components

No academics

Impartial positioning of academics

02

46

810

Co

res

0 5 10 15Components

Academics

02

46

810

Co

res

0 5 10 15Components

Non-academics

Academic’s charities network

Academic quangocrats only All quangocrats

Conclusions

Quangos are highly interconnected with strong bonds, across many areas, between quangocrats

Political and corporate interests provide no influence

Cultural capital important for gaining access to central quangos

Many quangos are ‘self-marginalised’ from informal networks of governance

Networks are heavily London-centric with other areas (self?-)marginalised