| A quango or QUANGO (less often QuANGO or QANGO) is a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation. The concept is most often applied in the United Kingdom and, to a lesser degree, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United States, and other English-speaking countries. As its name suggests, a quango is a hybrid form of organization, with elements of both non-government organizations (NGOs) and public sector bodies. It is typically an organisation to which a government has devolved power, but which is still partly controlled and/or financed by government bodies.
In the UK, the term quango covers different "arm's-length" government bodies, including "non-departmental public bodies", non-ministerial government departments, and executive agencies. One UK example is the Forestry Commission, which is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in England and Scotland. |
