Scotlandòs Finance Minister has told Scottish Screen it must justify its existence or face abolition. The move comes as part of wide-ranging reforms which will include the abolition of one third of Scotland's public bodies.

Angus MacKay, the finance minister, told parliament that 52 quangos, with combined budgets of more than £400m, are to be scrapped within the lifetime of the first Scottish parliament, a move which would "modernise" government.

Another 61 of the current total of 183 quangos, which have budgets of £4.8bn annually, are under review and must justify their existence or also face abolition. These organisations, including the troubled Scottish Qualifications Authority, which was at the centre of the exam results fiasco last year, and Scottish Screen, have been placed under continued scrutiny with a presumption that they will be axed.

The minister, whose announcement was welcomed by opposition MSPs, also warned those bodies which have been retained that they would have to undergo a "radical" programme of reform.

The minister told MSPs: "This action to modernise government cannot and should not simply be about numbers. It must also ensure that those public bodies that do remain operate more effectively and are more appropriately accountable to ministers, to parliament and the people of Scotland: that they become more open and more representative."

Mr MacKay said candidates to serve on public bodies would now be sought out, rather than simply relying on advertising, to ensure a representative cross section of the community served on and ran the remaining public bodies. They would receive proper training and "the rate for the job" as advised by an executive unit.

The boards of the remaining quangos would also be made more open, accountable and effective he promised. "A third to go, a further third to be reviewed with intent to abolish. And the remainder fewer, fitter and fairer: that is our action on quangos" he told MSPs.

The announcement was generally welcomed by Opposition parties.