IN VIEW of the setting up of a committee to review the appointment of consultants we publish below extracts from the 1999 Orane Report which examined the incidence of waste and related matters in the Public Sector.
The relevant findings are set out below:
"ENGAGEMENT OF CONSULTANTS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR.
Information made available to the Committee indicates the use of consultants for a wide range of activities at varying costs. In fact, the title of "consultant" is used very loosely in many instances to describe persons employed on a contractual basis and paid as consultants to do work which is very often a normal line function. There is also the practice of re-employing retired senior civil servants, particularly at the Permanent Secretary level, to do a variety of tasks, for extended periods. While there is no doubt that consultancy services are needed to provide expertise and skills, particularly in reform-oriented activities, and in specialist areas not readily found in the Public Sector, this needs to be managed to ensure that the Government gets value for money spent.
Stowe and Morgan, in describing the role external consultants should play in the reform process, write: "Consultants and advisers should be on tap, not on top; catalysts, not drivers... The Permanent Secretaries and senior officials of the relevant Ministries should hold the consultants and advisers to account for their input to the reform process; and wherever possible put them in a line of command under a senior officer, if not the Permanent Secretary, who should be accountable for ensuring the relevance and value-for-money of the consultant's contribution."
The Ministry of Finance and Planning has issued clear guidelines stipulating that engagement of consultants should be on a competitive basis with agreed terms of reference, specified deliverables, performance contracts and payment only on satisfactory completion of assignment and evaluation of performance; all of which are consistent with the rules of best practice applied elsewhere.
The Ministry of Finance's guidelines are largely ignored with no consequences. Therefore the value of engaging consultants as a means of enhancing the capability of the Public Sector is effectively lost. The problem lies in management and accountability.
Recommendations: For the Government to secure better value for the money spent in engaging Consultants, we recommend:
That the guidelines for the engagement of Consultants issued by the Ministry of Finance and Planning be adhered to by Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments and Statutory Bodies.
That sanctions be applied for non-compliance."
FOREIGN CONSULTANTS
In an appendix summarising group discussions of public sector employees it was stated in relation to "Use of consultants":
"Foreign consultants were seen as often necessary as they are tied to foreign grants, but most are thought to be arrogant with poor knowledge of the local situation. Meanwhile they spurn the advice of Jamaicans and blunder along. Additionally high salaries paid to them make it impossible for the Government to maintain them at the end of the funding period.
Ongoing practice of rehiring retired persons as consultants was also questioned. The feeling was that this stifled mobility in the system, however it was recognised that retirees had acquired vast knowledge which would still be useful. The suggestion was made to employ them for a limited period during which time they are to train the incumbent. Succession planning in the Public Sector was seen as weak and in need of strengthening."
