As someone who has worked with councils in a technical consultancy capacity; this is not surprising. The expertise within the public sector is diminishing. The salaries are simply not high enough to warrant working there if you are a talented individual.
There are so many consultants, with a wide range of abilities and skill sets, it can be very difficult to make the best decision on who to choose,
and the work doesn’t stop. The public still want their “thing” done, weather it is a road build, a hospital upgraded or a park mowed.
It would be reasonable to have many of the consultants on staff, since some rolls are permanent and ongoing…a 3 year project for a new waste water treatment plant, should have a few engineers on staff to oversee the project, but usually that is also farmed out to consultants.
As someone who has worked with councils in a technical consultancy capacity; this is not surprising. The expertise within the public sector is diminishing. The salaries are simply not high enough to warrant working there if you are a talented individual.
There are so many consultants, with a wide range of abilities and skill sets, it can be very difficult to make the best decision on who to choose, and the work doesn’t stop. The public still want their “thing” done, weather it is a road build, a hospital upgraded or a park mowed.
It would be reasonable to have many of the consultants on staff, since some rolls are permanent and ongoing…a 3 year project for a new waste water treatment plant, should have a few engineers on staff to oversee the project, but usually that is also farmed out to consultants.