Last Friday, Dr. Brown's Ministry became the latest to answer parliamentary questions asked three months ago by the Opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP), requesting details of what consultants were hired between July 31, 2003 and November 30, 2005, and what they were paid.

The answers from nine ministries reveal that the total spent by Government on consultants in during that period was $19.6 million.

In early March, seven ministries revealed they had spent a total of $14.8 million on consultants. And later the Works & Engineering and Housing Ministry answered that it had spent around $2.46 million.

Shadow Finance Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin attacked Government for its "extraordinary" spending on consultants and asked why Ministers felt it necessary to award themselves huge pay rises "when they are paying so much to consultants to do their bidding".

And she raised questions about some of the biggest-earning consultants listed by Dr. Brown.

Former UBP Finance Minister Grant Gibbons said consultancy seemed to be used increasingly as a way of hiring people without having to justify it before the Public Services Commission.

And he pointed out that funds allocated to professional services had rocketed by 41 per cent in this year's Budget, compared to last year.

Dr. Brown said his Ministry had spent $895,450.93 on Tourism and the remainder on Transport items.

The largest payment to a consultant was $317,911.68, paid to Elliot Ettenburg, who was commissioned to produce a report on the state of Bermuda's tourism industry in 2003.

Burritt Associates, a Fort Pierce, Florida company was not far behind, netting more than $308,000 for its work as a hotel development consultant.

And the third biggest earner on Tourism's consultancy list was Donald Coleman, who received $94,968.03 for terms of reference described in Dr. Brown's written answer as "consultant to the Minister".

Mr. Coleman's company GlobalHue, is the US advertising agency that has since been awarded Tourism's $13.2 million main advertising contract.

Dr. Brown announced in a speech in January 2005 that Mr. Coleman had been hired as a marketing consultant to assist with the strategic development of Bermuda's marketing programme.

"He will work with us to develop and implement our geo-centric marketing plans," Dr. Brown said at the time. "In fact, GlobalHue is spearheading our marketing efforts to promote the American flight out of Miami that commences on March 2."

Two other major earners, whose work was done at the Tourism and Transport headquarters, included Laurence Jacobs who was paid $292,787 for "special services", and Julie Grant whose work as a financial controller earned her $209,786. Bermuda addresses were given for both Mr. Jacobs and Ms Grant.

Consultants listed for the Transport Ministry include technical services relating to the Airport and the Transport Control Department.

Particularly eye-catching was the HNTB Corporation, of Kansas City, Missouri, in association with Cooper & Gardner, which provided planning services towards the development of a 20-year master plan for the Airport. The fee paid was $162,946.

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin criticised Dr. Brown for having taken three months to provide an answer and added: "Maybe the Government thinks that if they extend the time taken to respond, we might forget the amounts they told us about before, and thus minimise the extent of the problem."

She pointed out that the $19.6 million paid to consultants over the two-and-a-quarter-year period did not include the expenditure of the Attorney General's Chambers.

"It is worrisome to realise that in total, some nearly $20 million has been expended on consultants across Government departments," Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said.

"The Cabinet Ministers, whose policies presumably are carried out by the resultant findings of these consultants, have just asked for incredible salary increases for themselves.

"If we are paying $20 million for consultants, what are we paying Ministers for? How can they possibly justify a $150,000 salary for themselves when they are paying so much to consultants to do their bidding."

She said there were many questions raised by Dr. Brown's answer.

"There are such items as nearly $300,000 going to an individual (Laurence Jacobs) and $318,000 to Elliott Ettenberg for 'special projects'. What are the special projects?

"There is an item of $95,000 as 'consultant to the Minister' paid to Donald Coleman. What was his purpose?

"Burritt Associates must be laughing all the way to the bank with their $308,000 for hotel development consultancy. Where is the hotel that they are developing?

"$210,000 for a Financial Controller ? at what PS grade is Julie Grant to exact these fees from Government, and how does this compare with the salaries paid to the Accountant General and other qualified staff in her department?"

Dr. Brown also listed two of the consultants as "special assistants to the Minister". One of them was David Dumont, who fulfilled the role going back to the time of the late former Tourism Minister David Allen. Mr. Dumont was paid $27,592, while another assistant, Theresa Seymour, was paid $20,833.

Another locally based consultant, Alexander Home, was paid more than $52,000 for his services as Department of Air Operations commercial manager.

Dr. Gibbons questioned why such roles should be fulfilled by outside consultants rather than regular staff.

"It seems that this Government is using consulting as a way of taking on additional staff without going to the Public Service Commission to get people hired," he said.

And Dr. Gibbons believed the Government's heavy spending on consultants was part of an ongoing trend, with this year's Budget suggesting the outlay will continue to increase.

"While it's difficult to pick out in the Budget exactly what will be spent on consultants, the figures for professional services are an indication of the wasteful spending and fat that we saw in the last Budget," Dr. Gibbons said.

"The allocation for professional services in the 2005-06 Budget was $48 million ? in the 2006-07 Budget it had grown to $66.2 million.

"Clearly that figure is not all for consultants, but an increase of $19.1 million ? more than 40 per cent ? is a huge increase in the space of one year."

The Tourism Department has been allocated a huge increase in funds for professional services in the 2006-07 Budget, rising from $8.9 million last year to $11.8 million, an increase of 49 per cent.

"All that comes on top of the huge growth in the size of the Civil Service, which is spending $110 million more on wages and salaries in 2006-07 than it did in 1998-99," Dr. Gibbons added.