Nigel Evans, Member of Parliament for the Ribble Valley, has today criticised the amount of money that the Government spends on quangos.

 Speaking from the Ribble Valley, Mr Evans said,

 “Figures show that the total cost of quangos is around the £170billion mark. That is simply staggering. To put that figure into context, the MoD budget is about £35billion. In fact, the cost of quangos was only £24billion in 1997.

 “This sort of meteoric rise is a perfect example of Government, and this Labour Government’s in particular, waste. We are frittering tax payers’ money away which is hugely galling at a time when all MPs are witnessing job losses in their constituencies.

 “The disgusting amount of money spent on unaccountable quangos is yet another example of the complete economic mismanagement that this Government has come to embody.

 “My Party has pledged to review the amount spent on these bodies but the Government should act now to save billions of pounds that could be put towards mounting debt, front line services or care for the elderly.”