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 C&AG issued a report Use of Consultants. The Report considered the use of consultants by the Government of Jersey and made 15 recommendations.  In the most recent version of the Government of Jersey Recommendations Tracker, the Government has assessed that all bar one of these recommendations have been implemented. The final recommendation is due to be implemented by the end of June 2023.

Since 2019, the Government has been reporting to the States Assembly on its use of consultants.

In the period from 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2022 the Government spent a total of
£93.9 million on consultancy and £42.9 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 specifically since July 2020.

For the year ended 30 June 2022, major and strategic project expenditure accounted for 69% of consultancy expenditure and 38% or contingent labour expenditure.

Scope

The follow up review will focus on consultant expenditure where there was a defined end-point to the work and the responsibility for the final outcome of the work rested with the States. It will not extend to:

• outsourcing; and
• staff substitution; or
• in relation to Information Technology (IT) consultants, the implementation of arrangements in practice or the evaluation of whether value for money has been secured.

This follow up review will consider:

• 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 Report; and
• the adequacy of plans for the implementation of any outstanding recommendations.

In doing so, the review will evaluate:

• 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