Public Accounts Committee chairperson Inna Gardiner said the consultancy requirement was almost £50m, according to 2019 figures, adding: ‘It looks like 2020 will be within similar numbers.’
The St Helier Deputy said: ‘From my perspective the consultancy spend can go up and down, depending on the requirement of that particular year.’
PAC’s concern, she said, was ‘without having frameworks’ and ‘without having clear definitions’, there was ‘a big question mark about value for money’.
She queried how value for money and consultant output could be assessed without these requirements.
Deputy Gardiner made the comments while questioning chief operating officer John Quinn during a Scrutiny panel hearing this week.
She said the chief operating officer had accepted a recommendation from a PAC finance management report to develop clarification of additional guidance and document the process of engaging with consultants.
This included providing a clear business case and supporting evidence for every engagement with a consultant.
This was expected to be completed by July 2020, said Deputy Gardiner, but she admitted that things had been ‘different’ last year.
Mr Quinn said: ‘That is still a work in progress. ‘It should be done by the middle of this year.’
