The Court of Auditors pinned in a summary made public Tuesday the expenditure management of the office of the Minister of Overseas Territories, pointing in particular to problems of conflicts of interest and remuneration.
In the summary sent by its Prime President Pierre Moscovici to Minister Sébastien Lecornu on May 26, 2021, the control body also makes five recommendations "
which are likely to improve the management
" of the cabinet.
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The Court of Auditors is first concerned about the weight of the cabinet. This includes nine members and 56 agents of the cabinet office, who represent "
a management charge and almost half of the staff of the General Directorate of Overseas (DGOM), the only central administration of the ministry, which does not include that 137 agents outside the office of the cabinet
”. It therefore recommends “
reviewing the distribution of tasks and jobs
” in order to give the DGOM the means to cope with the fullness of its missions.
The budgetary and accounting control of the expenditure of the cabinet "
turned out to be partial and insufficient
", also criticizes the Court, which underlines that "a
not insignificant part of the expenditure is not traceable, even lack of obvious link with the activities of the service
”. Too high mouth fees are singled out: "
from May 2017 to November 2020, 726,599 euros will have been spent on mouth fees, or 15,800 euros per month on average
" for 10 to 15 advisers, we read. The firm's car fleet is also closely scrutinized, two vehicles having been allocated to members "
while these agents are not intended to be awarded a vehicle of functions
".
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Another point noted by the Court, "
arrears
" had been left by former cabinets to the current one.
4,365.85 euros of unpaid bills were thus owed "
to the restaurant of the ministry [...], exposed by the cabinet from August 2016 to May 2017, and finally settled in 2017 by purchase card
", underlines the institution.
At the end of 2020, four unpaid bills worth 216,000 euros still had to be settled, including one “
since 2011
”.
These relate to "
air transport
", and a "
start of settlement
" has been initiated by the cabinet of Sébastien Lecornu.
The Court also questions the remuneration of advisers, which rose from 2.99 to 3.76 million euros in the space of four years. In particular, it points the finger at the special hardship allowances paid: the allowance "
has all the characteristics of an end-of-year bonus, including for officials in the office of the cabinet while their working conditions hardly differ from those of their colleagues at the DGOM who, for their part, do not benefit from it,
”she notes.
The Court is also astonished that in matters of declarations of interest to the high authority for the transparency of public life, “
in the fall of 2020, some of the declarations of assets of the team in office before July 2020 did not had still not been produced
”and that“
the duplicates of these declarations of interest filed by the advisers were kept, unopened and without having been consulted, in a cabinet safe
”.
A "
beginning of ordering
" with Sébastien Lecornu
The Court nevertheless notes "
a beginning of restoration
" on the occasion of the change of minister in July 2020, when Sébastien Lecornu replaced Annick Girardin. In a letter dated September 7, Sébastien Lecornu responded point by point to each of the recommendations, insisting in particular on the fact that “
since 2017, the general direction of the Overseas Territories has never made known any obstacles to the good realization of its missions
”.
The Minister also underlines that since February 1, 2021, "
an agenda is systematically drawn up for the interviews of taking up office including a discussion on the risk of conflict of interest
". He also ensures that a "
process (...) is underway to formalize a vade-mecum of the expenditure
".