A March 2004 report considered the
prerogative powers of Ministers. A major report published in July 2011 addressed
procurement of
Information Technology by the government and found there was an over-reliance "on a small '
oligopoly' of large suppliers", which some witnesses before the Committee had described as a '
cartel'. An independent comment given prominence in the report described the UK as "a world leader in ineffective IT schemes for government". The
Office of Fair Trading investigated but did not find sufficient evidence either to confirm that suppliers had been acting in breach of
competition law, or to exonerate them. The government welcomed "the Committee's interest in and support for government Information and Communication Technology" and in response noted in particular that the government was "in the process of breaking the contractual lock-in which places the majority of ICT business with a small group of major systems integrators", and "working to improve the quality of its ICT management information". Reports published in 2021 include
The role and status of the Prime Minister’s Office, published in June 2021. In 2022 the committee reported on government ethics. Committee chair
William Wragg stated a "robust" system was needed to uphold standards "with proper sanctions for those who break the rules". The committee was also concerned the government maintained its coming ethics adviser would not look into what happened round
Suella Braverman's resignation. MP's on the committee stated the government should not be able to decide what the adviser, not yet appointed, could investigate. In its report, the committee also stated there should be legal action against former ministers who broke rules through taking certain jobs after leaving officed. Former ministers should look for advice from the
Advisory Committee on Business Appointments but ministers cannot be made to accept this committee's advice. The record of the current government was strongly criticised. The committee want the ethics adviser to be able to carry out inquiries into historical behaviour. ==See also==