MoD IT consultant paid £2,000 a day to cover civil servant's job
Vernon Coaker
The Ministry of Defence is paying an IT consultant £2,000 a day to cover the job of a civil servant at a time of cost-cutting that has already led to 50,000 civilian and military jobs being axed, the Guardian can reveal.
The appointment of Yvonne Ferguson at the MoD is thought to have made her one of the most highly paid staff in Whitehall – with a pro rata salary of more than £500,000 pa.
Ferguson has been drafted in to help streamline the department's myriad IT systems, but the appointment has caused concern among some senior colleagues, who have seen staff axed because of deep cuts to the defence budget.
The MoD says it has had to pay Ferguson the market rate for her services – she was recruited from Capita, the government's support services provider.
It is understood that Ferguson is on a short-term contract and a member of the civil service will eventually take over the post, at a much reduced salary. But it is not clear how long she will be in the role, and the tasks she has to undertake are huge, long-term projects.
For the foreseeable future, the MoD will pay £10,000 a week for her to take over as the MoD's chief information officer – she had similar jobs at Transport for London and at Royal Mail in 2010.
An MoD spokesman said: "A new chief information officer is being appointed to transform and modernise our information systems in both the military and business environments. The MoD has for many years been criticised for its inability to track information, run a proper inventory management system and integrate its information systems.
"The new CIO is not directly employed by the MoD, but her services are contracted in through an agency, at the market rate, for skills required to deliver IT solutions in a highly complex operating environment."
Announcing her appointment before Christmas, the MoD said she would become the department's new three star CIO – the civilian equivalent of a Royal Navy vice admiral, a lieutenant general in the army or an RAF air marshall. Those roles usually come with a salary of about £150,000 per year. Ferguson's salary is understood to reflect the complexities of the job, which includes moving the MoD to a new computer system and developing a new IT strategy for the military.
The MoD said: "Yvonne has a proven track record of delivering large and complex transformational programmes and of strong leadership, having been CIO at Royal Mail and Transport for London.
"Yvonne has the energy and drive necessary to move the MoD towards its vision for information systems that are agile, secure and robust, and meet our operational and corporate needs."
But other defence and treasury officials have been taken aback by the size of the salary, which is high for a department that already has some of the best paid mandarins in Whitehall. Some technical and engineering contractors are known to command a day rate of up to £4,000, but they are only used sparingly and for specific tasks.
The shadow defence secretary, Vernon Coaker, said: "The defence secretary needs to get a grip of the spiralling costs of highly paid consultants in his department. Last year, spending on external advisers rose from £34m to £49m, a 44% increase.
"Taxpayers deserve to know how their money is being spent and be confident that it is being spent wisely. The salaries of senior staff and private consultants at the Ministry of Defence should not be cloaked in secrecy."
Another MoD civil servant, the chief of defence materiel, Bernard Gray, also faced criticism when he was appointed to the MoD four years ago. He was brought into the department on a basic salary of £240,000 and received benefits worth a further £36,000. That is more than anyone else in the MoD, including the current chief of the defence staff, General Sir Nick Houghton, and the most senior civil servant in the department, Jon Thompson.
Under Whitehall rules introduced by the coalition, any Whitehall appointment on a salary of more than £142,500 must be formally approved by the Treasury. However, it is understood the MoD did not have to seek Treasury approval for the CIO post because Ferguson will not be an official member of the civil service.
Ferguson will work from Joint Forces Command, which has its headquarters in Northwood, Middlesex.
The Ministry of Defence is paying an IT consultant £2,000 a day to cover the job of a civil servant at a time of cost-cutting that has already led to 50,000 civilian and military jobs being axed, the Guardian can reveal.
The appointment of Yvonne Ferguson at the MoD is thought to have made her one of the most highly paid staff in Whitehall – with a pro rata salary of more than £500,000 pa.
Ferguson has been drafted in to help streamline the department's myriad IT systems, but the appointment has caused concern among some senior colleagues, who have seen staff axed because of deep cuts to the defence budget.
The MoD says it has had to pay Ferguson the market rate for her services – she was recruited from Capita, the government's support services provider.
It is understood that Ferguson is on a short-term contract and a member of the civil service will eventually take over the post, at a much reduced salary. But it is not clear how long she will be in the role, and the tasks she has to undertake are huge, long-term projects.
For the foreseeable future, the MoD will pay £10,000 a week for her to take over as the MoD's chief information officer – she had similar jobs at Transport for London and at Royal Mail in 2010.
An MoD spokesman said: "A new chief information officer is being appointed to transform and modernise our information systems in both the military and business environments. The MoD has for many years been criticised for its inability to track information, run a proper inventory management system and integrate its information systems.
"The new CIO is not directly employed by the MoD, but her services are contracted in through an agency, at the market rate, for skills required to deliver IT solutions in a highly complex operating environment."
Announcing her appointment before Christmas, the MoD said she would become the department's new three star CIO – the civilian equivalent of a Royal Navy vice admiral, a lieutenant general in the army or an RAF air marshall. Those roles usually come with a salary of about £150,000 per year. Ferguson's salary is understood to reflect the complexities of the job, which includes moving the MoD to a new computer system and developing a new IT strategy for the military.
The MoD said: "Yvonne has a proven track record of delivering large and complex transformational programmes and of strong leadership, having been CIO at Royal Mail and Transport for London.
"Yvonne has the energy and drive necessary to move the MoD towards its vision for information systems that are agile, secure and robust, and meet our operational and corporate needs."
But other defence and treasury officials have been taken aback by the size of the salary, which is high for a department that already has some of the best paid mandarins in Whitehall. Some technical and engineering contractors are known to command a day rate of up to £4,000, but they are only used sparingly and for specific tasks.
The shadow defence secretary, Vernon Coaker, said: "The defence secretary needs to get a grip of the spiralling costs of highly paid consultants in his department. Last year, spending on external advisers rose from £34m to £49m, a 44% increase.
"Taxpayers deserve to know how their money is being spent and be confident that it is being spent wisely. The salaries of senior staff and private consultants at the Ministry of Defence should not be cloaked in secrecy."
Another MoD civil servant, the chief of defence materiel, Bernard Gray, also faced criticism when he was appointed to the MoD four years ago. He was brought into the department on a basic salary of £240,000 and received benefits worth a further £36,000. That is more than anyone else in the MoD, including the current chief of the defence staff, General Sir Nick Houghton, and the most senior civil servant in the department, Jon Thompson.
Under Whitehall rules introduced by the coalition, any Whitehall appointment on a salary of more than £142,500 must be formally approved by the Treasury. However, it is understood the MoD did not have to seek Treasury approval for the CIO post because Ferguson will not be an official member of the civil service.
Ferguson will work from Joint Forces Command, which has its headquarters in Northwood, Middlesex.
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