Published Monday evening, this specific “budgetary yellow” was demanded by senators, after the controversy in early 2022 over the use of private firms like McKinsey and a commission of inquiry led by the Senate.
The government is claiming a 10% reduction in the amounts of consulting firm services ordered by the State, with 118 million euros in the first half of 2022, in a report annexed to the 2023 budget.
The report underlines that “at the end of the first half of 2022, the objective of reducing commitments for intellectual services by external consultants has been met”, with 118 million authorizations for commitments, against 131 million euros at first half of 2021, i.e. a drop of around 10%.
McKinsey, “support for the Ministry of Health”
This trajectory is consistent with “the objective of reducing consulting expenditure by 15%”, provided for in a government circular of January 2022, according to the document. “The average amount” of the 2,321 orders made “during this period is 50,732 euros, a decrease of 9% compared to 2021”, insists the report.
Between January 2021 and June 2022, the most solicited firms were Capgemini (43.5 million euros), Sopra Steria (25.74 million), TecnoAmbiente (25.36 million), McKinsey (24.66 million), Inop’s (22.36 million) and Eurogroup Consulting (16.07 million).
Capgemini has “in particular intervened” for the Ministry of the Interior “in the development of European information systems for the management of asylum and visas”, specifies the report.
For McKinsey, “the largest part of these orders concerns support for the Ministry of Health to support the implementation of the vaccination strategy”, against Covid-19 in particular, he adds.
Before the examination in the Senate of a bill
With 44 million euros in the first half of 2022, the Ministry of Ecological Transition is at the top of orders due to “support services for the deployment of offshore wind power (26.8 M EUR in 2021 and 2022) , occasional technical business support on nuclear costs, control of energy savings certificates or mobility”.
This is followed by the Ministry of the Interior (23.5 M EUR), the Ministry of Economy and Finance (12.7 M EUR), Solidarity and Health (9.1 M EUR).
The “budget yellow” does not use the same figures as the Senate report: it mentions 235 million in consulting expenses in 2021, against 446 million according to the commission of inquiry. He explains this difference in particular by the subtraction of IT services, up to 198 million euros.
The Ministry of Transformation and Public Service further clarified on Monday the rules for using consulting firms, eight days before the Senate will examine a bill to this effect.