Use of Consultants – Follow Up

Background

Consultants, when used correctly and in the appropriate circumstances, can provide great benefit to clients – achieving things that clients do not have the capacity or capability to do themselves. On the other hand, when used incorrectly, consultants can drain budgets very quickly, with little or no productive results.

In October 2016, the then Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) issued a report Use of Consultants. The Report considered the use of consultants by the States of Jersey and made 15 recommendations. In the most recent version of the Government of Jersey C&AG Recommendations Tracker, the Government has assessed that all of these recommendations have been implemented.

Since 2019, the Government has been reporting to the States Assembly on its use of consultants.  In the period from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2022 the Government reported a spend of £111.8 million on consultancy and £58.3 million on contingent labour.

The use of consultants to support major and strategic projects has an impact on the expenditure on consultants. Data on the use of consultants on major and strategic projects has been reported separately since July 2020.

Scope

The review has considered:
• the progress made in implementing agreed recommendations from the 2016 C&AG Report
• the extent to which the recommendations as implemented have addressed the improvement areas identified in the 2016 Report; and
• the adequacy of plans for the implementation of any outstanding recommendations.

In doing so, the review has evaluated:
• the effectiveness of the States’ overall arrangements for use of consultants; and
• the effectiveness of the use of consultants for a sample of consultancy projects
against the best practice framework identified in the 2016 Report.

This follow up review has considered a sample of consultancy assignments, including:
• consultant expenditure where there was a defined endpoint to the work and the responsibility for the final outcome of the work rested with the States
• contingent labour; and
• Information Technology (IT) consultancy expenditure.

It has not extended to:
• outsourcing; and
• in relation to IT consultants, the implementation of arrangements in practice or the evaluation of whether value for money has been secured.

This follow up review has included consultancy assignments associated with major and strategic projects and one off general assignments.

Conclusions

There will always be certain skills that are not available on Island and skills that are not needed by the States of Jersey on a permanent basis. In addition, for any organisation committed to a number of major and strategic change projects there will be a need to consider the use of consultancy support. The States of Jersey are no exception.

However, where consultants are used, there is a need to ensure robust processes are in place to drive value for money.  The review has identified that such processes are not in place on a consistent basis across the States of Jersey. As a consequence, value for money from the use of consultants cannot be demonstrated consistently.

The States of Jersey should build on earlier progress by implementing the recommendations in this report to secure better value for money from their use of consultants.