‘Hiring Consultants: What Are The Guidelines?’
[Updated] Shadow Justice Minister Trevor Moniz has asked about Government’s process of hiring consultants, saying the public should know what the guidelines are.
Mr Moniz cited statements made last week denying Anthony Santucci was hired as a consultant, with the Cabinet Secretary saying “there has not been a submission to the Review Committee,” and the Premier saying “the rules of engagement have been made transparent.”
Mr Moniz said the public should know who sits on the Review Committee, and if the Review Committee vetted applications for a number of consultants, “namely Ms Rene Webb, Mr. Rolfe Commissiong and Mr. Walton Brown.”
Last month The Royal Gazette reported that “Taxpayers spent nearly $400,000 on consultants to Premier Paula Cox’s departments in her first eight months as leader.”
“Advisers hired by the Cabinet Office make up the bulk of the sum, with former Minister Renee Webb, former Senator Walton Brown and former race consultant Rolfe Commissiong all currently on the payroll.”
Their report continued on to say that the Washington-based Ms Webb is paid $100,000 a year to advise Cabinet on European Union and UK relations, Mr Brown is paid $4,000 per month as a special adviser on consular and visa relations, and Mr Commissiong is paid $7,300 per month to advance recommendations of the Mincy Report and work on the visa waiver assistance programme.
The Premier released a statement following that report saying, “MP Bob Richard’s IT Company has been awarded many Government consultancy contracts to assist on the IT front, but I’ve yet to hear his name mentioned…”
“As I have stated before this administration is resetting the dial. We will use qualified Bermudian expertise to assist the Government on various technical matters,” said the Premier. “I would like to thank Rolfe Commissiong, Walton Brown, Renee Webb and Bob Richards for their services to date.”
Update: Trevor Moniz provided a clarification to the Premier’s statement saying: “The IT company, of which Bob Richards is a shareholder, is not a consultant but a contractor who won an open and competitive bid. They are also in the business of providing the services contracted and have substantial expertise.”
“None of these points can be made in the case of Walton Brown, Rolf Commissiong or Renee Webb. These are PLP supporters who have no substantial history of providing consultancy services and were awarded consultancy contracts which were neither open nor competitive.”
The full statement from Mr Moniz is below:
Late last week, after Transportation Minister Terry Lister said former PLP chairman Anthony Santucci had been hired as a TCD consultant, the Premier and the Island’s top civil servant stepped in to ‘categorically’ deny Mr. Lister’s statement.”
The Cabinet Secretary said Mr. Santucci ‘has not been engaged’ because there had been no submission to an internal Review Committee, which the Premier set up to vet all government staff appointments, including consultants, to ensure value for money, the skills ‘to deliver’ and no conflict of interest.
Despite the Premier saying ‘the rules of engagement have been made transparent’, there are questions that need answering if we are to have transparency on this issue.
Specifically, the public should know who sits on the Review Committee and what are the guidelines used to vet hiring ‘applications’ from government ministries and departments?
In addition, the public should know if the Review Committee vetted applications for a number of consultants recently revealed in answers to Parliamentary Questions; namely Ms Rene Webb, Mr. Rolfe Commissiong and Mr. Walton Brown.
“The One Bermuda Alliance is committed to a broad programme of reform to ensure greater transparency and accountability in government, and a broader level of interaction between government and the people it serves.
It is why we ask the above questions.
I believe this is a relevant question to be asking and I trust that a timely answer is forthcoming since the participants are Civil Servants. A speedy answer would also prevent the typical conspiracy theories from developing.
I do believe, however, that the broader question should be how many consultants are currently engaged by government, with start dates later than November 1, 2010 (the approximate date of appointment for Mr. Scott as Cabinet Secretary)? The follow up question is then – of those consultants engaged since that date, how many were vetted by the new Review Committee?
If asked, these questions should solicit the appropriate answers without reverting to personal attacks. For example MP Moniz is asking about Webb, Commissiong and Brown but has not asked about MP Richards who is also known (via his company) to be a government consultant.
The other relevant point is for the voters not to get caught in the trap of thinking that all consultants are bad. The reality is that engaging consultants typically saves any organisation money because they are able to get the expertise they require for the time required, without the burden of having the consultant on staff for an extended period (i.e. you save on pension, payroll tax and other employee overheads).
Clearly the prerequisite for hiring the consultant is for them to have the experience to complete the task they are hired to do. Based on Mr. Scott’s previous statement, the Review Committee is doing its job in that regard.
C’mon this is an easy question to answer. If the premier is OK with anything then it happens. This is the “process”. You see Mr. & Mrs. Bermuda, the king is (gone?) and the new monarch Paula Cox is the new queen. The new monarch as said she is a good person and we should all therefore vote for her tribe. This is why Bermuda has been labeled as “politically unstable” by the international community.
Vote….yah sow full of crep………..
Your a PLP Troll…..
Consultant………
Ever hear of Santucci, denial is a beach and your feet are covered with seaweed and sand.
@ Terry,
After carefully reading all his/her posts on all topics, it insn’t that difficult to conclude what the aim is!(Goebbels?) Having said that, I will be generous and grade him/her a C-. More research is required, eg. appointed consultants V competitive bidding for contracts. There are several more “gaffes”but the point is made. He /she certainly tries to earn the cheque.
typo. isn’t that difficult—-
There are no guidelines….i know of a foreigner who has a contract when a fully qualified Bermudian is available BUT because he is friends with a few in Government he keeps his contract. Immigration is weak and at the disposal of what Government says…simple as that! Bermuda for Bermudians….ha what a hyprocrital joke!
I am well aware from close up that there are foreign consultants in places while Bermudian Consultants and workers have been let go and by the way kept foreign managers while bermudian ones have been let go. Immigration are aware but nothing done.
I have no connection with the OBA but I have a question that I would really like to have answered by the Premier. It is perfectly clear that Mr. Santucci was not subject to the Review Committee process, but it does appear that he was hired as a consultant by Minister Lister. Could we, the public, now be advised as to whether or not there was any contractual arrangement or agreement between Minister Lister and Mr. Santucci, and if so is there to be any payment or renumeration to be paid to Mr. Santucci even if he will not be providing his consultancy services to Government. We should be entitled to know the answer to this question under the Freedom of Information legislation and the answer should be simple. It has to be one of the following:-
1. “No. There was no written agreement and no liability on the Government to make any payment/s to Mr. Santucci”;
2. “Yes, there was a contract or written agreement but he will not be paid because the contract did not conform with the Review Committee rules”, or
3. “Yes. There was a written agreement, and despite the fact that Mr. Santucci will not be providing his services he is still entitled to, and will be paid in order to honour the written agreement.”
Can someone, anyone, in Government please answer this very simple question without resorting to obfuscation or avoidance of the issue.
Did you not read? The answer is number 1, the creep was never hired. This is like the police saying someone isn’t murdered and everyone else things that its something different. Donald Scott says he was never hired, and the Premier says that he was never hired, and yet you still ask if he was hired.. Whats the issue?
@Can You Read – Yes. I can read quite well and I read that Minister Terry Lister stated that “Mr. Santucci is to be a consultant for a period of 4 months …..” Minister Lister has never retracted that statement as far as I have read! So, my question is simple and easy to answer . Was there any contractual arrangement between the Minister and Mr. Santucci and if so has it simply been cancelled or is there a price to pay! I note that Mr. Santucci was also recorded as saying that he had resigned from his position as Chairman of the PLP during the 4 month period. This is not something made up by the Opposition. It’s based on statements made exclusively by Government Ministers.
1) Santucci didn’t resign, he took a leave of absence
2) I think the rest speaks for itself. I find it interesting that the newspaper never followed up with Lister (makes more sense to keep up the drama in the government i guess) to get HIM to answer that question.
3) Again the facts are clear, He was never hired, and therefore i think it goes to say that there is no contractual arrangement.
I fully agree that the newspaper or the media should have followed up with Minister Lister to get HIM to answer the question, but I suspect that they may have tried and failed to get a response from him. You say the facts are clear but I beg to differ. It is clear that the Premier has put a stop to the hiring of Mr. Santucci because the Review Committee rules had not been followed – and for that I applaud the Premier who has demonstrated her intention to do the right thing.
However, if Minister Lister had entered into any kind of legal agreement or contract with Mr. Santucci (after all it was the Minister who made the announcement) then it is distinctly possible that Mr. Santucci might be able to ask for compensation for having acted in good faith. It was presumably not his fault that the Minister acted outside the rules. Unless “Can you Read? Says” is an official spokesman for the Government, or has inside information to which the public is not privy, then he or she cannot say for sure that there was no contractual arrangement. I know this is a difficult concept to grasp but the best way to deal with a question such as this is to answer it honestly. Even “Can you Read? says” cannot in all honesty say that Minister Lister has been forthcoming in this matter. In fact he has been just the opposite and I have to wonder why.
“Shadow Justice Minister Trevor Moniz has asked about Government’s process of hiring consultants, saying the public should know what the guidelines are.” Maybe some Ministers need to know too!!
Agreed!
It’s impressive that you are getting thoughts from this piece of writing as well as from our discussion made here.