A Deputy has questioned why local expertise hasn’t been called on after a London-based management consultant was tasked with identifying growth opportunities for the financial services sector.
It will analyse how competition, regulations, skills and marketing will need to change to support the largest segment of the island’s economy.
Two reports will be produced, but Economic Development said one will be confidential and only shared with States officials and other bodies as it will contain sensitive information which could harm the island’s competitiveness.
The cost for the work is £559,300, which started in October and will be completed in the first quarter of 2026. The States is coughing up the majority of the cash, with the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and Guernsey Finance – the arms length promotional body for the sector – paying the remainder.
This was in response to formal parliamentary questions from Deputy David Goy, who wanted to “establish whether the Committee had first proved that the same outputs could not be produced in-house or with cheaper, local expertise”.
Economic Development has defended the move which comes as senior States members and officials vow to cut down on the use of external consultants, saying an “external perspective” is required as doing the work itself may “give the perception of a lack of impartiality”.
Economic Development added: “While there is significant expertise in the States of Guernsey and the other commissioning parties, it was jointly agreed that additional external expertise would be useful to augment existing knowledge and other work completed to-date and to provide effective challenge as well as new ideas”.
It said Oliver Wyman was selected because of its “extensive multi-jurisdictional resources, proprietary databases, senior adviser network and experience in delivering projects of this nature but also because utilising an independent consultant gives greater credibility to the final report”.
Deputy Goy has thrice questioned the use of consultants by the States, with earlier answers revealing that over £60m has been spent on external insights since 2020.
“At a moment when the States is proposing GST, higher social-security contributions and the loss of Mortgage Interest Relief, approving a half-million-pound ‘strategy’ that could plausibly be home-grown sends a signal that fiscal restraint is being preached to residents more than it is practised by committees,” Deputy Goy said.
Deputy Goy also asked a series of questions relating to consultants used to draw up tax reform options in the 2020 to 2025 States term, but Policy & Resources said all modelling and analysis was done in-house by the treasury and Revenue Service.
