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Management of the health crisis, reform of the APL, organization of conferences… so many areas in which the State had recourse to consulting firms under the five-year term of Emmanuel Macron. In its report published Thursday, the Senate commission of inquiry denounces in this regard a “sprawling phenomenon”, at a growing cost for public finances. “The health crisis has highlighted the intervention of consultants in the conduct of public policies. It was only the tip of the iceberg, ”slices the commission of inquiry.
“The use of consultants is now a reflex” and these firms are “at the heart of public policies”, judge the senators after nearly four months of work, during which they notably heard the ministers Olivier Véran (Health) and Amélie de Montchalin (Public transformation).
In addition to relying on private firms to compensate for a lack of internal resources or to carry out “complex missions”, the State also entrusts them with “management tasks”. An often expensive expertise, since “according to the elements transmitted by the ministries, the average cost of a day of (work of a) consultant amounts to 1,528 euros for the period 2018-2020”.
In 2021, the consulting expenditure of the ministries reached 893.9 million euros. A marked increase in the amount during Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term: in 2018, it was limited to 379.1 million euros.
Present on most major reforms
Prime Minister Jean Castex drew a circular in mid-January to regulate the use of “intellectual services”, but it has no “binding nature”, point out the senators. And the goal of cutting consultancy spending by 15% in 2022 is “unambitious”.
Unconvinced by this “government announcement effect”, they nevertheless recognize that the State’s consultancy expenditure remains much lower than that of the British or German administration.
Another nuance, the use of private practices “has not started under this five-year term. Everyone remembers the assumed call for consultants during the general review of public policies” initiated under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, notes the commission.
The fact remains that “consulting firms have intervened in most of the major reforms of the five-year term, thus strengthening their place in public decision-making”, deplores the report. This is notably the case of McKinsey. The government approached the cabinet both on the reform of the method of calculating personalized housing aid (for a total amount of 3.88 million euros) and in the context of the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 (12, 33 million).
Other firms have supported the State on important issues, such as Capgemini, which has contributed to developing the Barometer of the results of public action (3.12 million euros) or Sempahores, responsible for helping prefectures to secure the distribution of electoral propaganda (approximately 290,000 euros).