2019 consultant spend at £6.19m

Monday 27 January 2020

The States of Guernsey spent £6.19million on consultants in 2019, it has been revealed thanks to questions posed to P&R by a Deputy.

This was double the same spend in 2018, when only £3.08m was forked out for consultants.

Deputy Laurie Queripel asked six questions about the government's use of consultants using Rule 14 of the rules of procedure.

In prepared answers from Policy & Resources' President, Deputy Gavin St Pier, it was revealed that a total of over £6m was spent throughout 2019, with scientific, research and tech consultants costing the most, at £2.46m.

Pictured: The breakdown of 2019's spend. 

In the answers, Deputy St Pier said: "It is worth noting that the figures quoted under the ‘Consultants – Scientific, Research, Tech’ sub-category include a range of professional advisor and services fees associated with key transformation projects. These include the use of architects for the Education programme and professional fees incurred in the building of the Waste Transfer Station and Household Waste Recycling Centre. Some of these costs were previously captured under the ‘Contracted out work’ category, the spend of which is also published in the annual accounts."

One of Deputy Queripel's questions raised the commonly held perception that consultants were relied on and used by the States too often, and asked if P&R would consider implementing a process that would require committees to justify using consultants each time they were going to. 

Deputy St Pier said: "A policy document was drafted some years ago to provide guidance on the use of consultants to ensure they were only engaged appropriately (i.e. where the States did not possess the skill for example) and the States secured effective value for money in their use. There are however many reasons and circumstances in which consultants are used and, for the most part, consultants are used only in circumstances where the States does not have the required skill, experience or capacity to perform the task.

"It is also worth noting that the use of consultants in certain circumstances helps prevent unnecessary creep on ongoing employment costs as we only engage them when their skill is required. This is particularly the case where a task may need to be performed infrequently and periodically but it is not an ongoing requirement that can justify employing someone full-time."

Pictured: Deputy St Pier was answering questions asked by Deputy Laurie Queripel. 

He continued in other answers to say: "All consulting engagements (subject to financial thresholds) are normally procured through a competitive process which outlines clearly the scope of work together with the objectives and outcomes and then appraises any responses from both a quality and cost perspective. Any such assignments will also have an officer identified as the Contract Owner whose responsibility is to manage the consultant and ensure the outcomes are delivered for the agreed costs."

Finally, Deputy St Pier clarified that he felt satisfied the States took enough advantage of local expertise and knowledge. He said they were fortunate that many people in Guernsey proactively came forward to offer their services on various initiatives.