They never would be missed

Well, some of them would hardly be missed, - especially those who are taking over functions from the elected local authorities. I am referring to quangos.

Cameron, like others before, has his eye of reducing the number and the budget of the bloated quangos. How can this be done?

There must be effective monitoring, and not by other unaccountable quangos. Everything they do must be scrutinised to prevent empire building. Douglas Carswell, who attacks these creatures regularly, suggests that they should be held to account before parliamentary select committees, who should contain members well versed in the area concerned. And why should the members not be encouraged to make lightning visits for inspection, where this is relevant? And why should the committee not hold public hearings to confirm appointments, to keep the matters out of the secrecy of the executive, as in America? There has recently been too much political patronage - to many cronies and London based.

There must be pressure on budgets and on salaries - all changes to be justified fully.

There must be pressure to reduce their scope wherever possible, with the transfer to elected bodies of some functions. The object would be to reduce their functions to the point of zero.

These are non-accountable and very expensive bodies, and Cameron and others are right to want to reduce their numbers and bring them to democratic control.