A report has lambasted government for its tradition of procurement of IT from a handful of giant suppliers - change but won 't be easy

Reports of parliamentary committees are subject as a principle "crushing" section, but this really is. After an exhaustive series of hearings earlier this year, the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee has the popular perception that the government is an incompetent buyers and users of information confirmed.

The central allegation is that governments have \ with the purchase of equipment on a large scale "wasted an obscene amount of public money" of too few suppliers. A headline figure: the Cabinet Office spent ? 3,664 per desktop computer for each employee.

But what 's really scathing about the report is where it shows the finger - at great IT. The deputies refer to "extremely serious allegations" a "oligopoly" of giant suppliers, the vast majority of the central government 's IT control. The allegations of anticompetitive conduct and agreements were apparently due to smaller businesses (SMEs) take place in a closed session of the Commission of Inquiry under the Chatham House Rule. The Committee urges the Government to commission 'an independent, external investigation, "in the alleged cartel.

The British government 's fondness for the procurement of IT has made a handful of giant suppliers has long been a matter of record. Five years ago, struck a landmark academic study by Patrick Dunleavy and Helen Margetts (a witness to the committee) this was a unique British phenomenon, and one that correlates with a poor performance. Under Labour, officials said they had little choice but to deal with than the big boys - the size of the governmental organizations called for systems that worked on a "an industrial scale". The NHS in England is developing its national IT procurements for the express purpose of obtaining large companies instead of mocks "work at home" of homegrown retailer.

However, the committee warns ominously: "There is a strong suspicion that the government will be diverted from its stated policy." One problem is the coalition's drive for efficiency through consolidation and bulk purchasing, which may encourage yet bigger deals.