Local Authorities and Reduction Programmes

in the Czech Republic

LT AB Citizens

Gozo, 30th November 2009

Petr Fejtek

2

Content

1) Sub-national levels in the Czech Republic – system and set-up (3 – 8)

2) Incentives from the Government (9 – 12)

3) Initiatives of local authorities (examples of best practices, 13 - 16)

4) Common projects of the Government and local authorities (17 – 20)

3

Territorial self-government 1

2 tiers– Regions (14)– Municipalities (6249)

– special status – the Capital City of Prague, considered to be both a region and a municipality

4

Territorial self-government 2

Municipalities according to their size:– up to 1.000 inhabitants: 4.973 mun. 80 % – 1.001 – 5.000 inhabitants: 1.013 mun. 16 %– 5.001 – 10.000 inhabitants: 134 mun. 2 %– 10.001 – 50.000 inhabitants: 109 mun. 1,8 %– 50.001 – 100.000 inhabitants: 17 mun. 0,2 %– over 100.000 inhabitants 5 mun. 0,07 %

– biggest: Prague 1.230.000 inh.– smallest: Vlkov 19 inh.- average: 1.691 inh.

- support of various form of inter-municipal co-operation

5

Territorial self-government 3

joint (combined) model of public administration

municipalities and regions perform – own (self-governing) competencies – matters

in the interest of the self-governing unit and its inhabitants

– delegated (state administration) competencies – matters laid down in special laws

6

Territorial self-government 4

municipalities– self-governing

competencies – equal status

– delegated competencies – 3 categories (types)

• I – basic level – 5.656 (e. g. elections)

• II – with authorised municipal office – 388 (e. g. environment, social matters)

• III – with extended powers – 205 (full range state administration competencies)

7

Czech Republic - Regions

8

Czech Republic – municipalities III

9

Incentives from the Government

in the Czech Republic, a lot of municipalities and cities have adopted their own steps to reduce administrative burden of citizens regardless any government policy, even before 2006 (strong commitment for e-government solutions at central level, SCM used for AB measurement for businesses in the Czech Republic)

isolated, not coordinated, poorly communicated the Government has created various incentives (quality

competitions, prizes for the most interesting innovation steps, awards for municipalities with best practice etc.) in order to:– encourage local governments in their efforts– co-ordinate those initiatives and projects– award the most creative and efficient ideas– promote awareness about the best practices

10

Village of the year

under the auspices of the Ministries for Regional Development, Agriculture, Environment and Culture + Union of Towns and Municipalities

for smaller and medium-size municipalities (up to 5.000 inh.) cutting of red tape + simplification of procedures + using of ICT –

only 1 of 10 criteria announced during a press conference by the Minister for RD, gala

ceremony, most popular Special awards in various categories (the Gold, Blue, White, Green

ribbon) absolute winner – bonus from structural funds; amount not known in

advance; in 2009, the winner Tučín, 454 inhabitants, North Moravia, received 2 mil CZK (77.000,- EUR) – ½ year expenditure

11

About people with people

Ministries of Interior and Environment + the Centre for Community Work

2 categories (actions, strategies)

approx. 20 – 40 projects, some of them focused on providing services for citizens (quality, simplification); 2009 – 25/4

announcement – ceremony held in Ministry of Interior (absolute winner, 2 prizes and 2 honorable mentions)

12

Quality awards

under the auspices of the Ministry of Interior

support of the quality- Prizes of the Ministry for quality and innovation in public administration – 3 categories (quality, innovations, good governance)– 15 – 20 projects– some of them directly oriented to reduction of AB for

citizens

solemn ceremony – during National conference of quality, presented by the minister in person, 6th conference – February 2010 in Tábor

13

Kladno – electronic office

72.000 inhabitants, Central Bohemia www.mestokladno.cz

on-line services – reservation for certain date and hour, information on the current number of clients and expected waiting time, all necessary information, all forms for printing and some for on-line submitting…

pioneering city (2005), inspiration for a lot of other cities (approx. 600)

14

Most – mobile office

70.000 inhabitants, North Bohemia www.mumost.cz

a courier car circulates around 15 smaller municipalities within its territory (type II, I)

26 services on request (phone, e-mail), e.g. verification of documents, applications for social care benefits, issuing of new ID etc.

primarily for elderly and handicapped people, in fact available for all – save time and money

inspiration for other cities – Tabor, Prague 10

15

Chomutov – better communication

50.000 inhabitants, North Bohemia

www.chomutov-mesto.cz

free phone calls to the office (information line)

SMS (service completed, news, risks, contacts)

information kiosks with free internet connection

16

Vsetín – evaluation of client's satisfaction

28.000 inhabitants, North Moravia

www.mestovsetin.cz

simple form

qualitative approach for assessment – 5 degrees (emoticons); all departments

space for remarks or suggestions

17

Common projects (state + municipalities)

Electronization of PA– information systems in public

administration (PA)– introduction 2006 – 8 – interconnection of systems– aim: territorial PA 100%

electronized– current situation:

• regions: all• municipalities:

– computerized: 99,8 %; 13 resistant (2005 – 95,2 %)

– internet: 99,1 %, 56 resisting (2005 – 41,1 %)

– web: 93,3 %, 418 without, (2005 – 74,7 %) – on-line solutions

Public registers– Act on Registers of Public

Administration (No. 111/2009, approved in March 2009, enters into force as from 1 Jan. 2010)

– facilitate an effective interconnection among 4 main registers, namely the register of inhabitants, register of legal and natural persons, register of right and duties and register of addresses, territorial identification and real estates

– once approved, it will make it possible for state institutions to extract data directly from these registers without requiring them from citizens

– problem in interconnection

18

Czech POINT(one-stop-shops, contact points)

operator: Ministry of Interior all regional offices and 92 % municipalities involved, active interest from their side network of one-stop-shops, “Czech POINT”, where the word POINT is an

abbreviation and means – in Czech – submitting, verifying, informational national terminal;

introduced in 2007, conceived as a complex communication platform between citizens (or the public in a wider sense) and public administration;

at present, they provide general information concerning public administration, verify and convert documents and issue abstracts (print-outs) of registers

operate also in libraries, information centers, notaries, Chamber of Commerce’s branches, post offices and also abroad (37), mostly at embassies or Czech centers

currently, almost 6.000 one-stop-shops are in operation financial support from the Ministry in the process of establishing contact points (or

transformation of their information kiosks), training courses, FAQ – most successful

19

20

How Czech POINT works – printout issuing process

Czech POINT centre

Municipal Office

Document management system

Single Registries

- Questions ?- Comments ?- Examples from other countries ?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

Petr Fejtek

Department of Effective Public Administration

Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic

Tel.: +420 974 816 267

Fax: +420 974 816 807

pfejtek@mvcr.cz, www.mvcr.cz