‘States should use own experts, not consultants’
THE States plans to spend less on consultants in future, and instead to employ expertise directly.
The Policy & Resources Committee believes such a move will reduce overall costs and offered details of the rationale behind it to the Scrutiny Management Committee last week.
‘What we have historically done – and are currently still doing to a certain extent – is employing very expensive local consultancy firms that come in, will sit for us for a year or 18 months, and do the job needed,’ said Deputy Dave Mahoney, pictured.
‘As soon as they’re gone, we’re having to replace them with somebody else from a consultancy firm.
'Clearly, the smarter move is to actually get some project leads in, who work for the States of Guernsey, at generally about half the money that we’re having to pay a consultancy firm for them.’
The idea is that these project leadership experts can then go into a pool of talent that can be drawn upon by different committees as the need arises.
Meanwhile, the controversial role undertaken by Deputy Mahoney in assessing whether new posts above a certain pay grade should be approved, will be discontinued, it was revealed, as the committee believes the Government Work Plan will make it unnecessary.
‘There is going to be a phasing out of that process,’ Deputy Heidi Soulsby said.
‘We should see a smoothing out and a reduction of the need to have that level of oversight as it becomes more business-as-usual and we can bring that within the senior executive within the States.’
