As I understand it it's a group or committee that is funded by the government.
They often come in for a lot of stick (mainly from Daily Mail readers) because they are not democratically elected. They often advise ministers or government departments and therefore can have some influence on policy decisions.
a quango is a group of people who make decisions. if they go wrong, are not responsible for those silly decisions in realitty they are idiots who think what people need, instead of, what they want basiclly they are well paid parasites