uk s  useless  quangos under fire the uk has 529 quangos financed with billions of pounds of taxpayers  cash - many of which are useless or duplicate each other s efforts  a report claims.  essential guide to british quangos 2005 author dan lewis said at least 111 of the appointed bodies had been set up since labour won power in 1997. he urged a limit on the number of quangos that could be set up by any individual government department. tories and lib dems welcomed the report and called for a  slimming down .  conservative deregulation spokesman john redwood said:  the research endorses our policy of destroying unwanted and unnecessary quangos  and slimming down the rest.   a conservative government will axe 162 quangos  as part of its drive for more efficient and more accountable government.  lib dem spokesman ed davey meanwhile said instead of the  bonfire of quangos  new labour had promised  there had been an  explosion  of them.  for over two decades  under both tory and labour governments  these unaccountable agencies have mushroomed.  liberal democrats would abolish many  merge others  and make any that remain properly accountable.  labour representatives were unavailable for comment. the quango guide follows last year s government-commissioned gershon report which recommended significant cuts in bureaucracy across the public sector.  mr lewis wants a public inquiry into regional development agencies which cost £1.8bn a year - cash he says which  appears to be almost entirely wasted . as well as a departmental limit on quangos he also wants a statutory five-year limit on any such body with executive powers. he also listed what he dubbed the nine  most useless quangos . they were the british potato council  the milk development council  the energy savings trust  agricultural wages committees  the wine standards board  the westminster foundation for democracy  the football licensing authority  investors in people uk and the economic and social research council. mr lewis branded the existence of the 60-employee potato council  set up in 1997 to research and promote overseas potato markets   surprising . he said the £80m spent annually on the energy savings trust  which promotes renewable energy  would be better spent on eight million boiler jackets for british homes.  and he argued it was  absurd  to charge farmers for agricultural wages committees  which set working and wage standards in the industry  when many were prepared to take advantage of immigrant labour prepared to work for £1 an hour.  if a football team can afford to pay £27m for wayne rooney  why should the taxpayer - not all of whom like football - be forced to fund the football licensing authority to the tune of over £1.1m a year   mr lewis asked. the report is published by the efficiency in government unit - a joint effort by right of centre think tanks the economic research council and the centre for policy studies. it says before a new public body is set up  an assessment should be made whether its proposed role is already carried out by an existing charity or other private organisation.