Cost of Consultants.
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Posts
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Got to agree with WXM. Consultants might really help turn a venture around and may well be worth paying.
Unfortunately, what I find rich is when a Consultant does the job that Charlie Drake’s Witchdoctor did in the ‘Boomerang’ song and state the obvious. The problem in respect of the schools, the markets and a number of other problem areas is that basic bread and butter matters have not been attended to for eons and whilst, at this stage, Consultants might be desirable, even essential to map out a way forward, how many heads have been put on the chopping block for allowing the deterioration?
This issue should not be some simplified question about the usefulness of Consultants. It should be about this + why have we got to this. The answer might well be to use Consultants but to strip out the failed departments or failed individuals. Equally, within departments that have been culpable in some malaise, there may be praiseworthy individuals
These forums are an opportunity to share grave concerns that don’t seem to be getting the attention and debate they need. Our families who are dependent on Wrexham for a good standard of education to prepare them for the modern world …those who have done their bit and are in a different phase of life …can aspire to more and have more than is currently to hand.
In a work discussion yesterday, a group of people from across a wide area, reflected without promoting how Wrexham, once a wealthy and busy town, is no longer a consideration in peoples plans to go shopping, or to open a business.
They reflected that the town use to be compact with a wide range of goods that formed part of a monthly or weekly visit. That the industry has ‘disappeared’, and if you want parts or tooling or to drum up new business …you have to go elsewhere.
Wrexham, as any other place, is both a state of mind, and it’s economic activity. Wrexham as an entity can start on the road to solving its problems, by asking and addressing some straight forward questions. It then has to act, before social and economic conditions change, and the answers expire. It has to be decisive, and press on.
1 Who does Wrexham want to become?
2 What do the customers of Wrexham look like, what will encourage people to focus on and use what Wrexham has?
3 How do we as a community take advantage of the income, activity and benefits from positioning Wrexham properly, to give the community the best standard of living affordable?Wrexham is one place, with one set of roads, and one budget. It is not a London with a global cross roads, people coming in & out, generating activity. If Wrexham wants to thrive and not be beaten by competitive places who offer better offers and industry …then it must act today. We do not need a consultant to tell us this.
Surely with the Extra Large Packets that The Chief Executive & her 3 Directors get,they should be able make decisions & not have to get Consultants in.If they cannot make these decisions why are they getting such BIG Wages.
Bumping this thread up as the use of External Consultants is due to go before a Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday afternoon.
It doesn’t need a consultant to tell us that to prosper as a County or town, we (as in WCBC as well as consumers) need to source products & services locally where we can. If it is slightly more expensive, then the carbon footprint should also come into play. If you can buy a lamb supplied from local farmers for example (no idea what it costs) £5 and you can buy one from Ireland at for example £4.75 and New Zealand at £3.00, where is it the best place to buy from, from a carbon footprint point of view, local enterprise point of view and transportation costs point of view. I myself would think locally. If my thinking is totally up the creek, I’m sorry. It is just my opinion.
Within the report it states that: “A consultant is defined as being a person (not an employee), agency or firm engaged for a limited period of time on a fee basis to carry out a specific task or tasks. A consultant provides subject matter expertise and/or experience to the Council either because it does not possess the skills or resource in-house or which requires an independent evaluation/assessment to be made.”
Worrying that the officers appointed to Wrexham Council have limited skills and are not able to carry out such tasks as assessing the viability of their own assets. As for the consultants being independent , they are being paid by the Council to support their brief!
It will be interesting to see what is said at the meeting as from FOI Raises Questions Over Future Of Memorial Hall | Wrexham.com
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As for that report it appears there were suggested edits that made it into a final consultants report that alters the framing of a point.
Clearly on occasions the use of specialist consultants is appropriate — this does fall down on numerous occasions however if the Council Officers commissioning the work don’t actually understand the issues and therefore don’t produce a specification for the consultants to work to that covers all work — this results in half the work and then recommission them again for a second piece of work.
The question the Council Members should also ask is out of all the reports and recommendations consultants have made over the past 5 years how many reports have been totally buried because they did not meet what officers (or Council Members) wanted to hear.
As a business person in Wrexham about 8 years ago I was involved in consultants sessions with the Council about branding Wrexham — the Council Members didn’t like the findings so the report was buried — £65,000 – I will never now take place in any of these so call consultants work when you know the outcome has been determined before they start.
Another example is the many millions of overspend on the building works of the Superschools due to failings by the Council to fully commission the design work appropriately.The Scrutiny Committee debate today seems to have raised a number of issues.
1. How many ‘consultancy’ contracts have been offered to ex employees that have never been advertised?
2. How many ex employees are on a ‘preferred’ provider list — and how , who produced the list?
3. How many ex employees have come back as a ‘consultant’ and then end up in a job which is not offered out? Since when do consultants have the same right to be considered for a job as those in the job pool?
4. How many of the ex employees who become ‘consultants’ actually have appropriate Professional Indemnity insurance?
5. How many ex council employees have ever pitched for work or got a contract by default?These are all the types of questions a private sector company seeking a consultant would be asking – so why not a Council?
@99DylanJones 12673 wrote:
Clearly on occasions the use of specialist consultants is appropriate — this does fall down on numerous occasions however if the Council Officers commissioning the work don’t actually understand the issues and therefore don’t produce a specification for the consultants to work to that covers all work — this results in half the work and then recommission them again for a second piece of work.
The question the Council Members should also ask is out of all the reports and recommendations consultants have made over the past 5 years how many reports have been totally buried because they did not meet what officers (or Council Members) wanted to hear.
As a business person in Wrexham about 8 years ago I was involved in consultants sessions with the Council about branding Wrexham — the Council Members didn’t like the findings so the report was buried — £65,000 – I will never now take place in any of these so call consultants work when you know the outcome has been determined before they start.
Another example is the many millions of overspend on the building works of the Superschools due to failings by the Council to fully commission the design work appropriately.Or the farcical theatre with 400 seats (Llandudno having 1500, William Aston 900+ and even the Stiwt more)
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