This is underlined by an investigation by Ifrap, the Foundation for Research on Administrations and Public Policies.
€ 354 spent per capita by the Ile-de-France Region and € 516 by the new Occitanie Region. And between the two Brittany with 449 € which is in the high half. It ranks 9th in this ranking, which takes into account the budgets of all the metropolitan regions except Corsica because of the specificities of the Island of Beauty: a single public community and especially a very small population.
Compared to its neighbors, Brittany spends more for each of its inhabitants than Pays de la Loire (391 €) and less than Normandy (466 €).
" A structuring role "
From these figures, the Foundation for Research on Administrations and Public Policies draws the first lesson: regional authorities are investment-oriented. Within the very large group of local authorities, they represent 12% of the operating expenses. "On the other hand, Ifrap emphasizes, they account for 20% of the investment expenditure of the communities, which shows their structuring role in the local public management. "
However, the Foundation also believes that the increase in spending of the Regions is not an end in itself, even if they have seen for years their skills constantly gaining ground by recovering, for example, the economic action or the all transport.
It therefore calculated the potential savings by comparing regions that spend the most or least in one area. The terrain is slippery. If a regional authority invests more than average in its high schools, it is also because it wants to offer a better service to its high school students. An evidence. Hence this useful clarification of Ifrap. These savings are not, she says, "targets but indicators of the savings that can be made. "
More evaluation
For Brittany, the foundation considers that it would be possible, in the light of what the other regions devote to it, to spend less on vocational training. As for high schools, the differences vary from € 998 per student in the Pays de la Loire to € 1,349 in Occitanie for a metropolitan average of € 1,132. And the reasoning remains the same. By aligning itself with the Pays de la Loire, this would be a possible savings of 709 million that could be achieved by all regional authorities for high schools.
If the method will not be unanimous, it will be at least the case for the conclusion of the study: "We must push more the evaluation of regional public policies and take advantage of best practices. "