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, ) 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 inhabitants:4.973 mun.80 % –1.001 – inhabitants:1.013 mun.16 % –5.001 – inhabitants: 134 mun. 2 % – – inhabitants: 109 mun. 1,8 % – – inhabitants: 17 mun. 0,2 % – over inhabitants 5 mun. 0,07 % –biggest: Prague inh. –smallest: Vlkov 19 inh. -average: 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 – (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 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  inhabitants, Central Bohemia  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  inhabitants, North Bohemia  a courier car circulates around 15 smaller municipalities within its territory (type II, I)  26 services on request (phone, ), 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  inhabitants, North Bohemia   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  inhabitants, North Moravia   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 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

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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.: Fax: