Government axes green IT advisory body

WAB is one of four quangos earmarked for closure

Vince Cable: Wants to reduce the number of quangos by a third

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Advisory Body (WAB) has become the latest casualty of the government’s ongoing efficiency savings drive.

In a press statement released earlier today it was confirmed that the advisory body, set up in 2007 to oversee the introduction of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, will close within the next year.

The government also confirmed the axing of several other government quangos, including the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property (SABIP), Simplifying International Trade (SITPRO) and the British Shipbuilders Corporation (BSC).

The Intellectual Property Office will take responsibility for the work carried out by SABIP, while WAB, SITPRO and BSC’s functions will come under the jurisdiction of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills in the future.

Closing the organisations is expected to save the government £8.62m a year.

Business secretary Vince Cable said the decision to close all four organisations was part of the latest phase of his wider commitment to reduce the number and cost of quangos we no longer need.

"I have already said that I want to reduce the number of these bodies by a third and we’ve achieved a lot in a short space of time," said Cable.

"By bringing these functions back into government, we make their activities more accountable and can reduce the considerable administrative costs that they place on the taxpayer."