Executive Agency

Any one of a number of UK government agencies set up from the later 1980s by the Conservative administrations of Margaret Thatcher and John Major as part of a ‘Next Steps’ initiative designed to improve efficiency and quality in the delivery of government services.

By September 1997 there were more than 136 Executive Agencies, along with 51 Executive Offices within the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise, in which around 360,000 civil servants, over three-quarters of the total, are employed. Next Steps agencies include the Meteorological Office, the Prisons Service, the Benefits Agency, the Employment Service, and the Child Support Agency.