Appointment and Utilisation of Consultants: briefing

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• Facilitate public accountability by bringing audit findings as well as suggested corrective measures to the attention of Parliament

PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
October 30 2002
APPOINTMENT AND UTILISATION OF CONSULTANTS: BRIEFING

Chairperson:
Mr. M. R. Baloyi (Acting) (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Report on Appointment and Utilisation of Consultants

SUMMARY
The Committee was informed that there was no proper monitoring and verification of consultants' performance. Progress on set objectives should be measured before payments were made. The Committee heard that the impact of the work of consultants on service delivery was not evaluated and departments should undertake more regular evaluations while an assignment was in progress and when it had been completed. The Committee was further informed that it was necessary to link the consultants' remuneration to achieved performance and that performance should be evaluated by independent internal auditors.

MINUTES
Briefing by Ms van Niekerk
Ms van Niekerk informed the Committee that the purpose of the presentation was to facilitate public accountability by bringing audit findings as well as suggested corrective measures to the attention of Parliament. It was also meant to indicate progress with corrective measures concerning appointment and use of consultants in the public service.

The presentation would assist the Committee to identify alternative ways of addressing needs such as training and capacity building not always considered. It would also necessitate filling of vacant posts, setting productivity standards for staff, networking, information sharing and work overtime. This would outline sound procurement principles not always applied - comparing tenders not only on the basis of price but also functionality, expertise and knowledge of tenderers. All these measures would strengthen the existing guidelines and procurement procedures for consultants and determine national norms and standards

Consultants were appointed without a proper evaluation of the required experience of competencies a situation that resulted in staff having to be withdrawn from their functions to assist the consultants. She recommended that consultants provide proof of previous successes and the knowledge of consultants should be tested when tenders were evaluated

The Department of Public Service and Administration should consider introducing a code of conduct or system of accreditation. Contracts and TOR's did not always provide for skills transfer and the capacity building component was not closely monitored. Opportunities should be opened for staff to learn from consultants by creating mixed teams. The DPSA and the SAMDI could assist departments to follow best practice frameworks for skills transfer. Consultants were appointed on a permanent basis or their contractual periods were continually extended. This often resulted in the approved establishment being extended and departments becoming reliant on consultants to perform certain primary functions.

Vacancies should be filled, as soon as possible and that the duration of the appointment of consultants must be limited to a reasonable period to ensure that the position was filled. She underlined the importance of considering the cost-effectiveness of the appointment of consultants compared to the filling of vacant posts. She said that the DPSA should evaluate remuneration structures for positions in the public service in terms of similar job descriptions and remuneration structures in the private sector.

Ms Niekerk lamented the detailed specification of the services required, available resources, intended outcomes or product required expertise timetable for completion. The long-term implications of this scenario was that tenders were extended unnecessarily and thus not complying with the requirements of transparent, fair and competitive procurement. She recommended a rigorous process of assessment of the need to appoint consultants with proofs of not meeting challenges internally. She recommended that prospective tenderers be appropriately briefed and the nature, outcomes, responsibilities and time frame of the work should be made clear. She hoped for a TOR's that would serve as a guide to consultants regarding the size and scope of the work.

She called for proper monitoring and verification of consultants' performance and that progress on set objectives should be measured before payments were made. She noted that the impact of the work of consultants on service delivery were not evaluated and advised departments to undertake more regular evaluations while an assignment was in progress and when it had been completed. She underscored the importance of linking consultants' remuneration to achieved performance and evaluated performance by independent internal auditors.

Departments did not create an environment where consultants could perform their duties effectively. She stated, for example that various interventions that were proposed were not always implemented due to inadequate human or financial resources and a lack of computer skills. She called for an organizational climate and to put processes in place that were supportive of achieving the objective for which the consultant was appointed. She continued that departments must assess their capacity to absorb outside assistance and implement proposals before tender specifications were finalized. She added that management should accept ownership of the business plan before the project starts

Ms van Niekerk concluded that her report had provided substantive inputs into the draft National Treasury procurement framework, which would include procedures for the appointment and management of consultants. She informed the Committee that they were in the process of finalizing a Guide on hourly fee rates for consultants based on the Public Service remuneration levels. .A database of 2113 consultant reports produced for the Public Service that would soon be made available to Departments. She pointed out that the DPSA was continuing to work with the Office of the Auditor-General and the National Treasury in order to promote the efficient and effective use of consultants in the Public Service in support of service delivery to the citizenry.

Discussion
Mr. Bell (DP) wondered whether the Auditor General was involved in the preparation of the report.

Ms van Niekerk replied that she was not in a position to tell whether or not the Auditor-General was invited to the presentation.

The Chair took up the question and explained that the Committee secretariat did not have time to invite the Auditor-General and that even presenters were invited at a very short notice. He however informed the Committee that he had learned from reliable sources that the Auditor-General was aware of the contents of the report.

Mr. Abrahams (UDM) pointed out that the transfer of skills was clearly not in the interest of the consultants and that such an exercise would be tantamount to negotiating themselves out of business.

Ms van Niekerk explained that the skills transfer process had different angles to it and that established consultants did not mind engaging this process at all. Such consultants had a variety of products and were able to develop new ones to offer on the market pointing out that the skills transfer happened in most instances but that the problem was with the number of consultants appointed for a given task.

Dr. Mbulawa-Hans (ANC) asked if there were time-frames for departments to adopt the new procedures on consultants in view of the fact that at present each department had its own mechanisms in this respect.

Ms van Niekerk admitted that the question of timeframes was indeed a thorny issue but that departments had been asked to develop policies around this issues since the requirement on reporting starts next year.

Ms Maloney (ANC) asked if there was a possibility for the introduction of a National Framework to govern departmental policies on consultants.

Ms van Niekerk replied in the negative noting that there was no need for a National Framework since like the PMFA, a matter of management.

The Chair pointed out that with proper monitoring and evaluation it was possible to gauge if the set objectives have been met.

Mr. Abrahams insisted that departments normally dealt with non- specialist consultants who were for the most part cagey that the knowledge they had might be taken away and in the end they would have no services to sell to the government.

Ms van Niekerk pointed out that much of the blame for a failure in skills transfer lie with management. She explained that there were many incidences where skills could have been transferred but due to incompetence on the part of management that possibility was normally not actualized.

Mr. Bell (DP) contended that the key problem in relation to reliance on consultants was a failure to hire the appropriate skilled man-power. He lamented that a situation was then created where emphasis was based on consultants and that this practice must be discouraged at all costs. He added that in fact no consultants should be appointed at all for work that should be executed by management in terms of their appointment.

Ms van Niekerk agreed with Mr. Bell that there was need to reassess the role of consultant and that one important area was to ensure that vacant posts were filled promptly.

Ms. Maloney (ANC) asked if the Department was aware that there were big companies who were fronting smaller firms in order to access government contracts.

Ms van Niekerk replied that she this issue did not feature in the Auditor- General's report and that therefore she was not in a position to tell whether that what was alleged was the position on the ground.

The Chair asked if the lack of a proper definition for the term 'consultant' was that much of an issue.

Ms van Niekerk noted that it was not difficult to define a consultant and that the definition was already there in the public regulation as referring to services offered by an outside agency.

The Chair said that the discussion was most stimulating and that members would have another opportunity to engage the report the following week. He summarized the issues that had been captured in the discussion as to 'whether the use of consultants should be the rule or the exception and if the exception within which parameters should it be considered.

The meeting was adjourned.

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