THE Chief Minister and senior officials have defended the government’s engagement of consultants, as well as the use of confidentiality agreements and a rise in staff numbers, during a tetchy Scrutiny hearing.
Senator John Le Fondré told the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel that consultants were providing skills that were not available in the Island, while a senior HR officer said that fees paid to the clinical director working on the Our Hospital project were ‘the going rate’.
The issue surfaced as the Chief Minister faced his final quarterly hearing with the panel ahead of June’s general election, following revelations that two directors working on the Our Hospital project had been paid a combined total of more than £1 million over the past three years.
Earlier this week it was revealed that more than half-a-million pounds had been paid over the past five years to a consultancy firm. A freedom-of-information response showed that £506,192 of taxpayers’ money had been paid in fees to Improving Performance Consultancy, which is led by Kim Hodgson, as well as a further £10,803 for flights, £2,100 for hotel stays and £863 for other expenses.
Senator Le Fondré said he disagreed with the perception that consultants were a waste of time, arguing that they played an important role in projects such as the new hospital, government office plans, digitisation and the redevelopment of Fort Regent.
He said: ‘With some of the work we are bringing in skills that we don’t have on Island – these people do a job for a limited time and then leave.’
Mark Grimley, director of people and corporate services, said criticism about the use of consultants stemmed from a time when the government may not have adequately planned ahead. He told the panel that there were now succession plans in place and opportunities for internal promotions.
And government chief executive Suzanne Wylie said that consultants were necessary on an island the size of Jersey, but added that the explanation to the public about what work was being carried out – and its tangible positive outcomes – could be better.
Senator Le Fondré said preparatory costs for the Our Hospital scheme, the Island’s biggest capital project ever, were inevitably expensive. Mr Grimley added that amounts paid to clinical director Professor Ashok Handa might seem high, but were actually ‘the going rate’, reflecting the specialist skills of the person concerned.
In response to a recent written question submitted by Constable Andy Jehan, the government confirmed that Professor Handa was in line to be paid between £375,000 and £425,000 during the three years to July 2022, while project director Richard Bannister was set to earn between £650,000 and £775,000 for the period from May 2019 to July 2022.
Recent figures in the government’s annual accounts, showing that the total number of civil servants had grown by 800, were highlighted by panel member Senator Steve Pallett, who asked the Chief Minister if such a rise could be considered a success.
Senator Le Fondré said: ‘These are absolute numbers but I think the number of full-time employees is more important.’
The increase in numbers was partly explained by factors relating to the Covid pandemic, he added, with a peak of around 250 staff employed in contact-tracing roles and a period where all Island GPs were on the government payroll as part of the Covid response.
Mr Grimley said that while an immediate reduction in staff numbers was unlikely due to the number of major projects in progress, he anticipated this would happen in the future.
Having clashed regularly with Senator Le Fondré since the 2018 election, Senator Kristina Moore was in no mood to allow the Chief Minister an easy ride. She criticised him for ‘wasting time’ during the hearing and claimed he failed to respect the role played by Scrutiny. At one stage she halted proceedings and said to him: ‘You are out of line.’
The use of compromise agreements was addressed by the panel, who were told by Mr Grimley that the number of such agreements – 34 in 2020 and 21 last year – was not large for a public sector organisation the size of Jersey’s.
Senator Le Fondré said he felt there was always likely to be a need for compromise agreements in certain circumstances.
The panel heard that non-disclosure agreements were another tool used by the government in cases where commercial confidentiality could be at risk, although Mr Grimley said whistle-blowing employees would be treated sensitively.
He said: ‘I can absolutely categorically say that there’s a new policy to protect anyone who has made whistle-blowing [revelations] – anything like that now comes straight to me and we recognise there’s a public interest.’
