Jersey’s Educational Consultants: Value for Money?
By: Colin Lever
Tags: Jerseyci, Politics, Consulting, Government, Education

We hear much about external consultants within States departments. Theirs is a shadowy world, shrouded in mystery and acronyms. We are aware that they get paid handsomely for their expertise, but does the island get value for money and how are these ‘experts’ identified? Looking at the new Children, Young People, Education and Skills “CYPES” mega-department, perhaps some light can be shed on these questions.

Mark Rogers was hired by Charlie Parker to oversee the construction of CYPES. His background is in education and social care, holding managerial posts in both. From 2014 to 2017 he was employed by Birmingham City Council as CEO. According to the Birmingham Mail, the council leader, Mr. Clancy, blamed Mr. Rogers for a £49 million black hole in the city’s finances. Mr. Rogers’ departure was announced two days before the city’s budget was to be debated at an emergency council meeting. The Conservative opposition leader commented at the time:

“The news that Mr. Rogers is to leave Birmingham City Council is hardly a surprise given the amount of time he appeared to spend externally trying to build a national profile, compared to being in the city trying to fix our many problems”.

Mr. Rogers has his own consultancy firm and is also employed by three other companies. LinkedIn shows that he is a non-executive director at Altruist Entertainments, an Associate at KMPG UK and Executive Director at Collaborate ClC.

In his time as CEO of BCC he invited Charlie Parker to speak at a number of events. In July of this year Mr. Rogers tendered his resignation. Following negotiations, it was agreed that Mr. Rogers could work from home, in the UK. He commented: “This means I will be spending regular time in the UK, where I will undertake some of my work.” Bearing in mind the reasons surrounding the resignation of Charlie Parker, the island’s CEO, are there not similar issues in respect of Mr. Rogers’ ability to commit fully to the role of Director General of CYPES. And who was it that signed off on the negotiations to allow him to work from his home in the UK?

Julian Radcliffe, the islands most senior educational psychologist, resigned in July 2020 and subsequently claimed constructive dismissal, citing his treatment by Mr. Rogers and senior management. The SEB did not uphold his claim but commented:

‘…the Claimant was very passionate about his role and made a significant positive contribution to the Education and CYPES department; indeed despite all the changes to his role there was no question in relation to the Claimant’s work ethos or capability….It appears that an effective, conscientious and well respected member of staff left due to the way in which he was managed and communicated with….’ (S.E.B tribunal judgement).

A recent FoI has revealed that inclusion staff have spent 294 days sick, with work related stress between 23rd April and the 23rd of October. Three out six have resigned their posts. What support has been available for the most vulnerable children, since their departure in July?

Amanda Kelly is another consultant, hired by Mr. Rogers. She is a partner in New Network Ltd and was also a director of iMPOWER, a company that had links with Birmingham City Council during Mr. Rogers tenure. Ms Kelly has produced a number of documents for CYPES. These include ‘Support Entitlement for Children In Care’ and ‘Guide for Young People Leaving Care’.

One section of the first document reads: ‘The core purpose of the Virtual Headteacher is to be relentless in driving up improvements in the educational progress and attainment of all children in care including those that have been placed off island.’

Compare this with a section taken from Southwark.proceduresonline.com: ‘The core purpose of the Virtual Headteacher is to be relentless in driving up improvements in the educational progress and attainment of all Looked After Children (LAC), including those that have been placed in schools in other Local Authority areas.’

Coincidence or cut and paste? Another excerpt from the same document about ‘Pathway Plans’, written by Ms Kelly reads:

In pulling this together they will talk with you about your hopes and aspirations for education, training, and employment. They will ensure you have an acceptable form of ID such as a passport or driving licence and if needed, they will pay for you to get a birth certificate and apply for a passport. Together we will come up with a plan, which will help set some goals for your future (these will be revised and updated regularly) and outline the steps we need to take together, to help you reach those goals. Your PA will consider with you what extra support you may need, for example because you:

• have special educational needs or a disability

• are an Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Child (UASC) and your immigration status is unclear

• wish to access Higher Education

• are in or leaving custody or you have had contact with the criminal justice system

• are a young parent

• are going through a difficult time in your personal life or

• live outside Jersey

We know that relationships are important and so we will try and make sure that you keep the same PA, though this will not always be possible

Now take a look at this Pathway Plan from Gloucestershire County Council:

They will talk with you about your hopes and aspirations for education, training, and employment. They will ensure you have an acceptable form of ID such as a passport or driving license. Together you will come up with a plan to help you reach your goals. The plan will include what steps you need to take to reach your goals, what support you need and who can offer you help.

We will try to enable you to keep the same leaving care worker, though this will not always be possible. Your worker will help you to complete a pathway plan. of support that you receive from your worker will depend on what you want and your circumstances.

Your leaving care team will consider with you what extra support you may need. You might, for example, need extra support because:

· you have special educational needs or a disability.

· you are an unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Child (UASC), and your immigration status is unclear.

· you are in or leaving custody or you have had contact with the criminal justice system.

· you are a young parent; or

· you are going through a difficult time in your personal life.

· you wish to access Higher Education.

· you live outside of Gloucestershire County

What makes this example particularly worrying is that Jersey does not have any ‘Asylum Seeking Children’. Senator Gorst saw to that back in 2015! Somebody has not done their homework.

To fill the gap of not having enough inclusion experts, another consultant, Henrik Winther-Olsen, was employed on a part-time basis. This was a particularly sensitive post, involving some of our most vulnerable children. His previous post was that of headteacher at Farney Close School, from 2017–2018, a residential school for pupils with special educational needs. In 2015 the school was assessed by Ofsted as being ‘outstanding’. In 2018 it was assessed as ‘requiring improvement’. Mr. Winther-Olsen left that same year. A recent FoI questioned background checks on potential consultants, to which the reply came.

‘The appointment into the interim position of Service Manager for Vulnerable Children was conducted following the Governments’ standards on recruitment and selection. The interim Service Manager for Vulnerable Children was selected through a competitive interview process facilitated by the HR Team. Additionally, pre-employment references where provided prior to the interim starting in post.’ Are all consultants vetted? If so, by whom and to what degree?

Is the employment of consultants a result neat networking or chronic cronyism?

Who cares as long as the job is done properly, eh? Whichever is the case, we should expect that those employed provide value for money. Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been paid to Mark Rogers and Amanda Kelly since their employment. CYPES management is supposed to be putting children first, who is making sure that this is the case?

We now have a new Children’s Minister who also has a portfolio for Housing and is still Assistant Minister for Education. Questions are already being asked about the efficacy of one person holding down so many roles at the same time. How can he possibly make the right level of commitment to the children of Jersey whilst trying to manage such a heavy workload? The slogan at the entrance of each school ‘Putting Children First’ is beginning to have a very hollow ring to it.