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ADVISORY Advisory NDPBs consist of boards, supported by a small secretariat, which advise ministers on particular policy areas and therefore introduce a degree of transparency, accountability and distance which is not available if ministers are advised by civil servants only. EXECUTIVE Executive NDPBs usually deliver a particular public service and are overseen in doing so by a board rather than ministers. In both cases board appointments are made by ministers following the rules of the Office Of The Commissioner For Public Appointments . CONTRAST WITH EXECUTIVE AGENCY AND NON-MINISTERIAL DEPARTMENT NDPB differ from Executive Agencies as they are not created to carry out ministerial orders or policy, instead they are more or less self-determining and enjoy greater independence. They are also not directly part of government like a Non-ministerial Government Department being at a remove from both ministers and any elected assembly or parliament. HISTORY, NUMBERS AND POWERS There are hundreds, if not thousands of NDPBs in the UK ( PDF ). It is difficult to determine how many because some are the responsibility of Devolved Government . Before 1997 , the incoming Labour Government promised to reduce the number and power of NDPBs. Some question whether this has happened as much as it could have. [http://www.mtcp.co.uk/shows.php?id=39 Mark Thomas story on Quangos ( original version ) (Also BBC News Article 2005/02/11 ) These appointed bodies performed a large variety of tasks, for example Health Trust s, or the Welsh Development Agency , and by 1992 were responsible for some 25% of all government expenditure in the UK. Critics argued that the system was open to abuse as most NDPBs had their members directly appointed by Government Minister s without an Election or consultation with the people. The Press , critical of what was perceived as the Conservatives' complacency in power in the 1990s , presented much material interpreted as evidence of questionable government practices. This concern led to the formation of a 1995 . The use of NDPBs has continued under the Labour government in office since 1997 , but the political controversy associated with NDPBs in the mid- 1990s has now for the most part died away. It is not entirely clear why this occurred, though proponents of the Labour Government claim it as a result of their reforms. Organizations that have been described (rightly or wrongly) as QUANGOs or NDPBs:
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