States forced to reveal six-figure consultant fee

States forced to reveal six-figure consultant fee

John Laverick, who was appointed as interim chief information officer in June last year, is listed as the managing director of Rockhopper Management Solutions, which describes itself as a consultancy specialising in ‘IT and business transformation’.

It is understood that Mr Laverick’s salary is being paid to Rockhopper by the States via an agency, in an arrangement similar to the one used by Camilla Black, the former interim financial consultant whose £1,350 day rate was reported on by the JEP earlier this year.

When asked at the time of Mr Laverick’s appointment in June last year what he would be paid for his interim consultancy role, the States press office declined to comment, saying only that it was ‘priced at a normal interim market day rate’.

The fees paid so far to Rockhopper, which were only divulged as a result of a freedom of information request by the JEP, equate to an annual total of £224,000.

In June last year, it was stated that Mr Laverick had ‘joined the States of Jersey as interim chief information officer to help transform the way the public sector delivers services using digital technology’.

A government spokeswoman added that Mr Laverick would remain in his post ‘until a permanent modernisation and digital group director starts’ and that his main task ‘would be to oversee the support provided by Information Services to the States of Jersey’.

When asked yesterday whether a permanent successor to Mr Laverick had yet been found, a spokeswoman for the States press office said that a recruitment process was ‘underway’.

However, even in light of this new information that Mr Laverick’s consultancy is being paid an annual fee of £224,000, the Government of Jersey has confirmed that it still considers the contract to be ‘a normal interim market day rate’.

Further questions were put to the government regarding the exact nature of the services that had been provided so far by Rockhopper but, at the time of going to press, no answer had been received.

However, in April, following the JEP’s report on Ms Black’s interim contractual arrangements, Chief Minister John Le Fondré defended the States’ employment of interim consultants.

He said that it is necessary ‘to bring in outside expertise to spearhead much-needed change and transfer those skills to our future leaders’.

The States press office said that Mr Laverick’s role is a ‘tier two post’, which sits beneath the top line of directors general who report directly to Mr Parker.

The spokeswoman confirmed that Mr Laverick had been involved in the responses given by the government, however the JEP has also contacted him directly for comment.

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