Procurement by the Government of Jersey Review

Procurement within the Government of Jersey covers a wide range of services and outcomes that are intended to help improve the overall service to members of the public. Where a Government of Jersey department is unable to provide a service or programme itself, it often looks to external suppliers or contractors in order to assist with this process. Examples of areas which have required significant input in relation to procurement include (but are not limited to):

• Use of external consultants
• Major and Strategic Projects, including Capital Projects
• Supply systems that engage with businesses and members of the public to pay and receive invoices.
• Contingency labour, including locum and agency staff to support various government departments and services.

Key issues

There is a requirement to examine the current procurement processes and whether these achieve value for money for the taxpayer and government services, as a whole. The PAC wishes to understand what processes are currently in place, how effective these are and whether or not they are simple to operate for both the Government of Jersey and suppliers and businesses that engage with Government and offer services on behalf of Government (e.g. third sector).

The Corporate Portfolio Management Office (CPMO) has produced a number of frameworks which sit across programmes delivered by the Government of Jersey and provide guidance and outlines as to how to effectively deliver projects. Consideration of the impact of these frameworks on the procurement process is required. The overall governance of procurement processes across the government is also required.

Procurement also covers major and strategic projects (including capital projects) that are undertaken by the Government of Jersey. Examples in recent times including the New Health Care Facilities Programme, Modernisation and Digital programmes (including the Information Technology Programme) and other key capital projects in relation to the various government departments and services. Several recommendations were made by the C&AG in relation to this area and examination of their implementation is required in order to assess progress made and improvements required.

Consultant spend in the Government of Jersey is meant to be reported to the States Assembly through the decision taken around P.59/2019. Whilst this has been undertaken, the frequency of the reporting (every 6 months) has not been met for some time. Concerns have been raised around the difficulty of collating information relating to the use of consultants. Management information collected in relation to the use of consultants varies and a recent C&AG report following up on this matter identified that improvements needed to be made in this regard. Concern was raised in response to this report that management information across Health and Community Services (HCS) and Children, Young People, Education and Skills (CYPES) is not being included in currently planned improvements, despite HCS having one of the largest spends on consultants across the government departments.