The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee, formerly the Public Administration Select Committee, is a select committee appointed by the British House of Commons to examine the reports of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, and to consider matters relating to the quality and standards of administration provided by

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

departments, and other matters relating to the civil service, mostly for England and Wales, and constitutional affairs. It is the principal select committee to which Cabinet Office ministers are accountable and thus handles pre appointment and accountability hearings for independent officers, with an independent civil society or cross departmental role, such as the First Civil Service Commissioner, the chair of the

UK Statistics Authority The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA, cy, Awdurdod Ystadegau'r DU) is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for oversight of the Office for National Statistics, maintaining a national code of p ...

and the chair of the

Charity Commission , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , ...

. The committee chooses its own subjects of inquiry, within its overall terms of reference; however, it seeks evidence from a wide variety of individuals and groups with relevant interests and experience. The members of the committee are drawn from the three largest political parties, and the committee itself mainly publishes its results through reports and making its recommendations known to the government.

Membership

As of , the committee's chair is

William Wragg William Peter Wragg (born 11 December 1987) is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester since May 2015. He is a vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee. Early life Wra ...

,UK Parliament
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
accessed 30 July 2021 after being elected in January 2020, defeating fellow Conservative MP David Jones by 335 to 183 votes. The members of the select committee are:

Changes 2019-present

2017–2019 Parliament

The election of the chair took place on 12 July 2017, with the members of the committee being announced on 11 September 2017.

Changes 2017-2019

2015–2017 Parliament

The election of the chair took place on 18 June 2015, with the members of the committee being announced on 6 July 2015.

Changes 2015-2017

2010-2015 Parliament

The election of the chair took place on 10 June 2010, with the members of the committee being announced on 12 July 2010.

Changes 2010-2015

Reports

A March 2004 report considered the

prerogative In law, a prerogative is an exclusive right bestowed by a government or state and invested in an individual or group, the content of which is separate from the body of rights enjoyed under the general law. It was a common facet of feudal law. Th ...

powers of Ministers. A major report published in July 2011 addressed

procurement Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or ser ...

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system ...

by the government and found there was an over-reliance "on a small '

oligopoly An oligopoly (from Greek ὀλίγος, ''oligos'' "few" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a market structure in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of large sellers or producers. Oligopolies often result fr ...

' of large suppliers", which some witnesses before the Committee had described as a '

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mo ...

'. 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 The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic r ...

investigated but did not find sufficient evidence either to confirm that suppliers had been acting in breach of

competition law Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrus ...

, 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

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 Sue-Ellen Cassiana "Suella" Braverman (; ''née'' Fernandes, born 3 April 1980) is a British barrister and politician who has served as Home Secretary since 25 October 2022. She previously held the position from 6 September to 19 October 2022 ...

'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.Braverman return sets ‘dangerous precedent’, says Commons committee
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

References

External links

Public Administration Select Committee
page on UK Parliament website
Records for this Committee are held at the Parliamentary Archives
{{UKParliamentCommittees Westminster system Select Committees of the British House of Commons