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Consultants Highlight Their Contribution to Public Sector

The professional body that represents Northern Ireland’s Management Consultants has challenged criticisms of the level of consultancy services procured by Government and said that as the public sector moves forward to implement the recommendations from the Review of Public Administration, the skills and experience of consultants will have a vital role in helping transform the delivery of public services and in managing the change process.

Michael Clarke, Chair of the Institute of Management Consultancy in Northern Ireland was speaking on 11 May 2006 at the Institute’s Annual Dinner in the Great Hall, Queen’s University, Belfast.  Michael also heads Goldblatt McGuigan’s Management Consultancy Practice.

“Of course there needs to be scrutiny on public sector expenditure, including the spend on consultancy services” said Michael Clarke, “but proper scrutiny needs to extend beyond just looking at the costs involved, it fundamentally needs to focus on evaluating the value for money and the return on investment that has been delivered through consultancy services.” 

Much of the criticism leveled at the public sector over the procurement of consultants, seems to imply that a great deal of the consultancy work that is undertaken could be done internally.  This is simply not the case and to suggest that it is shows a lack of understanding of the added value skills and experience that consultants have to offer and the need for this expertise that exists within the public sector.  The issue is the lack of visibility of what we deliver.  Our public sector clients know of the many significant improvements to the way public services are delivered that would never have been possible without the strategic and operational input of consultants.  The problem is that neither we nor they have created the right platform to highlight this. 

The implementation of the recommendations of the Review of Public Administration will bring monumental changes to local and central government, and to ensure that those changes are delivered effectively will require the expertise of consultants advising and supporting internal resources.  As a profession we have a responsibility to help Government to scope and manage the services required and, in partnership, to increase the visibility of the value of what we deliver” said Michael Clarke. 

Guest speaker at the Dinner was Sir David Fell, former Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and Chairman of professional services firm Goldblatt McGuigan.   The event which was sponsored by financial recruitment consultants the Sellick Partnership and raised  £1,600 for the Prince’s Trust in Northern Ireland. 

The Institute of Management Consultancy is the Professional Body for Management Consultants. It seeks to set, maintain and raise the standards of professionalism and competence for the profession by ensuring that its members work to the Institute's professional code of conduct. The Institute’s members in Northern Ireland are drawn from a wide range of large and small management consultancy practices, as well as individual sole traders.