External Consultants Guidance
RHI Inquiry · The Report of the Independent Public Inquiry into the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme · Issued 13 March 2020 · Addressed to: Northern Ireland Executive
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The Northern Ireland Civil Service should consider what changes are needed to its guidance and practices on the use of external consultants arising from the experience of RHI. Specific recommendations include: (a) that better assessments are needed at the outset of a given policy or project pre-procurement, as to what type of specialist support is to be sought from amongst the different types of available consultancies – for example, contracted-in specialist skills or stand-alone advisory reports or some appropriate combination of both; and (b) that far greater emphasis should be placed upon the resources and capabilities of the relevant Civil Service teams to manage the consultants and to make effective use of their input, including knowledge transfer and retention after any consultancy contract has ended.
RHI Inquiry, The Report of the Independent Public Inquiry into the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme · 13 Mar 2020 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The NIAO Second Progress Report (October 2024) assessed this recommendation as "Likely to be Implemented", noting that guidance on the use of external consultants was being refreshed but the target date had slipped from August 2024 due to competing priorities (NIAO Second Progress Report, October 2024).
Response — verbatim from government
●Northern Ireland Executive
[Note: The NI Executive responded to recommendations 8-18, 24, 26-28, 32b, 34-36 together as a group under the 'Professional Skills, Resourcing, Record Keeping and Raising Concerns' themes.] NI Executive Response (October 2021): These recommendations can be accepted in full. They have been addressed through work to date, including: job-specific appointments within the NICS generalist grades; the piloting of Cabinet Office's 'Commercial Skills Assessment and Development Centre' to evaluate its potential as a mechanism to improve commercial skills across NI Departments; the encouragement of senior leaders to access the Cabinet Office / Oxford University Major Projects Leadership Academy (MPLA); the introduction of a new portfolio of commercial awareness and skills training for all generalist grades; the introduction of a learning and development framework for economists, including commercial awareness; assurances sought from Departments that senior managers will, as a matter of course, review the levels of specific expertise required to deliver their business and take appropriate steps to secure the appropriate expertise and manage the associated risks; the issue of corporate guidance on managing handovers for incorporation within departmental procedures. Further work is required to: reform the role and sponsorship of the Civil Service Commissioners for NI; launch and implement talent management products across the NICS; Deliver NICS Recruitment Plan - phase 1 & 2; Match to job roles and appoint further staff via SO/DP recruitment competition; Agree scope and timeframe for review of NICS recruitment; Develop proposals for the review of NICS workforce model (disciplines, occupational groups, professions, job roles, etc); Develop terms of reference for the review of NICS approach to professions; Further alignment of NICSHR resources and operations to deliver on NICS corporate HR priorities including resourcing activities for critical posts; Ongoing improvement of recruitment and selection processes.
Northern Ireland Executive · 7 Oct 2021 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 15 Oct 2024 NIAO Second Progress Report (October 2024): Likely to be Implemented. Guidance on external consultants is being refreshed but the target date has slipped from August 2024 due to competing priorities. NIAO assesses this as 'likely' provided the guidance developed is sufficient and appropriate. DoF acknowledges the delay. Source →
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.