The Renewables Advisory Board (RAB) and Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) have today (October 14) become victims of the coalition's cuts to government-funded bodies, dubbed the 'bonfire of the quangos'.
However, other key energy bodies such as Ofgem and the Committee on Climate Change have survived the cull.
In a statement released by the Cabinet Office, it has been revealed that a total of 901 quangos were considered in a comprehensive government review, with 192 abolished, 481 reformed and 118 merged into 57 quangos - leaving 648 bodies remaining.
Of those cut today, the abolition of the RAB and the RFA may prove damaging to the renewables sector, with both having provided key functions in the industry.
The RAB, managed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), was initially established in 2002 by the then-energy minister Brian Wilson as an independent body of experts to advise the government on renewables policy.
Commenting on the cuts, a spokesman from DECC said: "Today the Cabinet Office announced the outcome of the government review of public bodies, setting out which bodies will be retained, merged or no longer be an NDPB. DECC is closing three bodies and retaining a further nine.
"The majority of DECC's public bodies are considered to have met one of the three tests set out to determine whether an arm's length public body remains the right delivery mechanism."
Meanwhile, the RFA - which falls under the Department for Transports' remit - was in charge of administering the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RFTO), therefore the body's abolishment raises questions over the schemes future. The RFTO targets refiners, importers and any others who supply more than 450,000 litres of fossil-based road transport fuel to supply a certain percentage of biofuels within their fuel.
Commenting on what is likely to happen as a result of the cull of the RFA, the DFT explained that there is now scope to transfer the RFA's functions to the DFT, and the department will work with the body to consider how best to achieve the transition and to "ensure that potential savings are realised".
In more positive news, the Cabinet Office has decided to retain the Committee on Climate Change- an independent body which advises the government on climate change policies - on the grounds of the need to act independently. And, energy regulator Ofgem is safe, however is under review by DECC, as announced in the Annual Energy Statement.
The Technology Strategy Board - a non-departmental public body established by the government to promote and invest in technology research and development, which has helped fund some renewables projects - has also been retained.
Elsewhere, the Forestry Commission has been retained but will be subject to "substantial reform", with details of the reform to be set out by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in the autumn as part of the government's strategic approach to forestry in England.
It is unknown what lies in store for the Carbon Trust, which was left off the government's list today. However, it was suggested that the body would be under review in the leaked list.
The Cabinet Office has also confirmed that the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) has been abolished and is set to be replaced with a major Infrastructure Planning Unit within the Planning Inspectorate, as previously announced.
Speaking about the review of the quangos today, Cabinet Office minister, Francis Maude, claimed it was impossible to reveal how many employees will be affected by the cuts or how much money will be saved.
However, he noted that the bodies involved are being communicated with and that the government departments responsible for them will be working out what the changes mean in detail.
In a statement released this morning, Mr Maude explained the reason for the review: "A body should only exist as a quango if it meets one of three tests, to which my review has subjected all existing public bodies. These tests are: Does it perform a technical function? Do its activities require political impartiality? Does it need to act independently to establish facts?"
He added that there will be a rigorous review of the remaining bodies every three "to ensure that the previous pattern of public bodies often outliving the purpose for which they were established is not repeated".
Source: New Energy Focus FULL ARTICLE