The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) launched an inquiry on 28 July 2010 into the number, role and effectiveness of government ministers. PASC is undertaking this inquiry as part of its wider interest in ‘smaller government’.
The Committee examined the following issues:
What ministers actually do, and whether that work is best done by ministers drawn from Parliament
Whether UK government has too many, not enough or the right amount of ministers (including Cabinet and junior ministers)
The impact that the number of ministers has on both effective government and the public purse
Implications of coalition government for the role of ministers and how they operate, both collectively and at the level of individual departments
What plans to decentralise power away from central government mean for the role and function of ministers