Fears over quango set up after Hillsborough

(PA)

Among the sports-related quangos to bite the dust are the Olympic Park Legacy Company (if only in name) and Cycling England.

The OPLC is responsible for the post-Games use of the 2012 London site; its work will devolve to the Mayor of London under a reconstituted body, the Mayoral Development Corporation.

Cycling England's job was "to get more people cycling, more safely, more often". Local councils may or may not take up the slack. The proposed abolition and sale of the Horserace Totalisator Board will surprise no one, and few tears will be shed at the merger of Sport England and UK Sport.

The most controversial decision will be the scrapping of the Football Licensing Authority, the body established to oversee safety at football grounds in the wake of the Hillsborough tragedy. Merseyside MPs have already demanding reconsideration of the closure, with Halton MP Derek Twigg – present at the 1989 disaster that claimed 96 lives – saying: "The big question now is whether the advances we have made on ground safety are to be put at risk. The implications could be horrific... we just don't know the impact because ministers have done this without any consultations."

The FLA's work will be devolved to another body, as yet unspecified.