Britain's Most Enduring Quango Marks Sixty Glorious Years of Advising on the Need for More Advice

A Diamond Achievement in Administrative Excellence

In a modest conference room beneath Whitehall, Britain's Advisory Council for Advisory Councils (ACAC) this week celebrated its diamond jubilee with characteristic restraint: a press release confirming its continued existence and a 400-page feasibility study into whether anniversary celebrations require regulatory oversight.

Founded in 1964 during Harold Wilson's first term to "provide strategic guidance on the optimal deployment of advisory mechanisms across government departments," ACAC has weathered fourteen major Whitehall reorganisations, seventeen changes of government, and three attempts at abolition—the last of which was abandoned after ACAC's own report concluded that dissolving advisory bodies required, at minimum, advice from an advisory body.

The Art of Perpetual Motion

Current chair Sir Nigel Pemberton-Smythe, who has held the position since 1987 despite being officially retired since 1999, expressed pride in the organisation's achievements. "Over six decades, we have successfully identified 2,847 areas of government activity that would benefit from additional advisory input," he explained during a brief telephone interview conducted through his secretary's secretary.

"Our crown jewel remains the 1983 Report on Reporting, which recommended the establishment of seventeen new committees to oversee the production of reports about committee effectiveness. I'm pleased to confirm that fourteen of those committees are still meeting monthly."

ACACl's diamond jubilee publication, titled "Advisory Excellence: A Strategic Review of Advisory Strategy Reviews," runs to 847 pages and concludes that the optimal number of advisory bodies in British government is "somewhere between the current figure and more." The document took four years to complete and required input from twelve sub-committees, including the Sub-Committee on Sub-Committee Formation and the Working Group on Working Group Nomenclature.

Survival Through Adaptation

The organisation's remarkable longevity stems partly from its unique ability to make itself indispensable through sheer bureaucratic complexity. When the Major government attempted closure in 1995, ACAC responded with a detailed analysis proving that abolishing it would require establishing a temporary Quango Dissolution Advisory Panel, which would itself need oversight from an Advisory Council Transition Committee.

The process was estimated to take eighteen months and cost £2.3 million, at which point ministers quietly renewed ACAC's funding for another five years.

"We've always been ahead of the curve," notes Professor Miranda Fairweather of the Institute for Administrative Studies, herself a former ACAC member. "While other quangos focused on narrow specialisms like housing or transport, ACAC had the vision to specialise in specialisation itself. It's rather brilliant, really."

Modern Challenges, Timeless Solutions

ACACl's recent work has expanded to encompass digital transformation, with its 2022 report "Advising in the Digital Age: An Analogue Perspective" recommending the creation of a Digital Advisory Advisory Board to provide guidance on how traditional advisory mechanisms might adapt to contemporary challenges.

The report's key finding—that digital advisory processes require the same rigorous oversight as traditional ones, only more so—has been welcomed across Whitehall. Three departments have already established working groups to consider implementing its recommendations, pending advice from their respective advisory committees.

Deputy chair Brigadier (Retired) James Fortescue-Cholmondeley, who joined ACAC in 1979 as a temporary appointment and has since become its longest-serving temporary member, emphasised the organisation's continued relevance. "In an era of rapid change, the need for careful, considered advice about advice has never been greater. We're not just keeping pace with modern government—we're staying exactly where we've always been, which is precisely where we need to be."

The Next Sixty Years

Looking ahead, ACAC has outlined an ambitious programme of strategic initiatives, including a comprehensive review of its own reviewing processes and a feasibility study into the feasibility of conducting feasibility studies. Sir Nigel confirmed that preliminary discussions about establishing a Platinum Jubilee Planning Committee are already underway, with the first meeting scheduled for 2029.

"Our diamond jubilee marks not an end, but a beginning," he declared. "We've spent sixty years proving that the best way to solve problems is to establish a committee to consider whether solving them requires a committee. I see no reason why the next sixty years shouldn't be equally productive."

When asked whether ACAC's diamond jubilee represented value for money given its £847,000 annual budget, Sir Nigel paused thoughtfully. "That's exactly the sort of question that would benefit from careful advisory input. I'll have our Value Assessment Advisory Group look into it. They meet every third Thursday, assuming the Advisory Meeting Scheduling Committee approves their calendar."

ACACl's diamond jubilee celebration concluded with the establishment of a Post-Celebration Review Panel to assess whether the celebration had achieved its objectives of confirming the organisation's existence. Their report is expected sometime in 2026, pending advice from the Advisory Timeline Advisory Service.