RUSHED plans to axe scores of quangos will neither save money nor improve accountability, MPs warned today in a scathing condemnation of the ‘‘botched’’ process.

The Government announced in October it was slashing the number of such bodies from 901 to 648 in what it dubbed a fresh ‘‘bonfire’’ of unelected organisations.

But the influential Commons public administration select committee savaged the way the review was carried out and accused ministers of seeking excessive powers to axe even more.

‘‘The current approach is not going to deliver significant cost savings or result in greater accountability,’’ the cross-party group concluded after a detailed review.

‘‘There was no consultation, the tests the review used were not clearly defined and the Cabinet Office failed to establish a proper procedure.’’ Ministers ‘‘failed to recognise the realities of the modern world’’ and missed an opportunity to show its ‘‘Big Society’’ agenda in action by handing powers to charity.

And ‘‘badly drafted’’ legislation implementing the cull needed more safeguards to prevent ministers abusing wide powers to abolish and reform a swathe of other bodies.

The committee is chaired by Tory MP Bernard Jenkin, who issued a stern rebuke to the Government over the process – overseen by Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude.

‘‘The whole process was rushed and poorly handled and should have been thought through a lot more,’’ he said.

‘‘This was a fantastic opportunity to help build the Big Society and save money at the same time, but it has been botched.

‘‘The Government needs to rethink which functions public bodies need to perform and consider transferring some of these functions over to mutuals and charities.’’ The MPs said the potential for cost savings was ‘‘probably exaggerated’’ in pre-election promises and that reducing spending required more fundamental decisions about axeing state roles altogether.

And returning direct responsibility to ministers for some roles risked undermining other forms of accountability and meaning issues got lost in wider Whitehall remits, they concluded.

‘‘This will mean less effective accountability and challenge on a day-to-day basis,’’ they said.

The report found that the series of tests set out by ministers to judge the future of bodies against were ‘‘hopelessly unclear’’ and had not been applied consistently.