Standardize Administrative Procedures and Create a Guide to Administration and a Services Catalog (MEPLA0006)

Commitment ID

MEPLA0006

Commitment Title

Standardize administrative procedures and create a Guide to Administration and a catalog of services for the Municipality of Plav.

Problem

Considering the complexity of local government administration and its primary purpose of serving the citizens and ensuring that its operations are transparent, the lack of a catalog of services and standardized/unvarying and well-documented procedures represents a major problem, as this method of exercising rights with the city administration, to the precisely specified competent authorities, services, institutions, or companies, as well as any necessary prior documentation, forms, legal instructions, like the prices of administrative fees for those services for which they are prescribed, remain a mystery for a large number of citizens. In such circumstances, it is not easy for any group of users - citizens and businesses - to realize their rights and fulfill obligations related to local governance. This can be further complicated if the procedures are not unified and the forms are constantly updated. In such circumstances, users seek information in available ways – calling local officials or surfing the internet in search of information on where exactly to obtain the necessary document or specific service.

Status quo

The lack of transparency and deficiencies in public ethics undermine the provision of services to citizens and the economy and pose a threat to universal access to basic services and sustainable local economic development. Therefore, it is essential, whether through instructions, printed guides, or the work of officials with citizens and the economy, to promote public ethics, transparency, accountability, and participatory decision-making, in order to reduce the risk of corruption and increase citizens' trust in local government.

Action

It is necessary to:

Standardize administrative procedures Create a guide to administration (traditional in .pdf format and digital, through some interactive form)

Create a catalog of services (in traditional and electronic form)

The standardization of processes is carried out through the identification and modeling of processes, defining roles, responsibilities, and authorities, measuring resource consumption for process implementation, and assessing risks and possibilities, as well as process optimization, to the extent permitted by regulations. Such well-documented and optimized processes are the basis for creating a guide to administration as well as a catalog of services. One of the available methodologies that can be used for this purpose is DMAIC.

The purpose of creating the Guide is to inform citizens about all procedures related to local government services, as well as to support local authorities in their efforts to improve the quality of local governance in accordance with the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government (ETS No. 122). It provides them with practical guidelines on public ethics and accountability, transparency, the relationship with citizens and the economy in the process of realizing rights or regulating obligations, relying on international standards and examples. Consultations have shown that representatives of the Municipality of Plav are aware of the need for the development of such a Guide and would gladly contribute.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?

With completing this comitment, we will achieve:
services will be people-oriented, the user experience will improve,

the work of local authorities will be more transparent,

A system for comparing services will be developed in terms of quality and methods of service delivery.

Internal and external communications within the authorities and with citizens will be improved.

A clear guide for users of the services of the Municipality of Plav will be provided, based on a common understanding of the services.

A foundation will be established for cooperation and information exchange between institutions at the local level, and in the future, the digitization of services.

By implementing these activities, citizens and businesses would have a single place to view all current forms and procedures whose format and content are prescribed, with precisely specified competent authorities, services, institutions, or enterprises, eventually necessary previous documentation, forms, legal instructions, as well as the prices of administrative fees for those services for which they are prescribed. Such standardization of workflows would be an excellent premise for planning the digitalization of services that are not digitalized, it does not leave room for exceptions and special cases, which certainly increases transparency and trust in the work of local government. Open local governance and a high level of public ethics are key to building trust in government institutions.

What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?

This obligation contributes to the enhancement of open government reforms, increasing transparency, promoting e-democracy, and creating inclusive growth.

Primary Policy Area

Civic Space, Digital Governance

Primary Sector

Public Services (general), Science & Technology

What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?

Technology and Innovation for Transparency and Accountability

The folowing will be achived: 1) Greater availability of information in ways that enable users to understand what is needed to exercise their rights and fulfill obligations before local government authorities; 2) Reduction of costs due to standardization/optimization of processes; 3) Involving civil society and the business community to identify effective practices and innovative approaches to achieve good governance goals.