Executive agency

An executive agency is, in the United Kingdom, a part of an executive government portfolio that is managerially and financially separate from the core department and carries out certain of the executive functions of that department. Each of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Northern Ireland Executive use executive agencies in particular policy areas. Executive agencies are "machinery of government" devices distinct both from non-ministerial government departments and non-departmental public bodies (or "quangos"), each of which enjoy legal and constitutional separation from ministerial control. The model has been applied in several other countries.