Labour’s new public bodies are likely to come at a high cost, thinktank finds

The Institute for Government is tracking the cost of setting up departments and public bodies and finds the cost to the Treasury can be £15m for the former and even more for the latter. Photograph: F Fawcitt Spain Photography/Alamy

Labour is creating or overhauling at least 17 public bodies, a move which is likely to come with high costs, an Institute for Government report has found.

Launching a new “tracker” of public bodies, the thinktank warned of some of the pitfalls when setting up government agencies from scratch, saying: “Successfully creating a new public body is difficult and entails high fixed costs in terms of time, budget and leadership focus.”