On improvement of the operational model of local government institutions – associations of associations – and internal reorganisation
On 27 October, the Executive Director of the Rēzekne municipality, Jānis Troška, provided the report to the Territorial Permanent Committee on the existing situation in the activities of the associations of associations, where the council members asked the Executive Director to carry out an analysis of the situation. A working group was set up, which offered concrete solutions to the improvement of the situation. On 1 December, at the meeting of the Rēzekne District Council, following the report of the working group, a decision was taken on the implementation of the internal reorganisation of the associations of associations to be carried out by 28 February 2023 in order to commence work on a new quality with the 1 st March.
What is the improvement of the operational model?
Improvement of the operational model foresees that, from 1 March of the following year, the parish administration will cease to function as top-level units of associations of associationsbut the parish houses will continue to serve as the place of service. There will be no change in the population as regards the receipt of services. Further information, submission, payment of public utilities, tax and fee payments, visit to a social worker or a member of the Orphan's court may continue to be received in each parish. The work will continue to be carried out by libraries, cultural houses and youth centres. No parish will remain unsupervised, the day-to-day work will continue. Currently, five national and local customer service centres (VPVKAC) (Dricāni, Kaunata, Malta, Nautrēni and Viļāni) operate in the municipal area. The network extension of these customer service centres is planned.
What is the internal reorganisation envisaged?
It should be noted that we are all living in the digitisation era, when many things, including payments, can be made without leaving home, in such a way as to go to the parish house only to address issues that cannot be resolved remotely.
Existing parish management managers will need to requalify as deputy head of administration in specific directions of activity, manage individual processes and control them or be leading specialists in one of the areas within an association if they agree. There is no planned increase in the number of employees.
The main difference between the existing situation – the leader and the deputy of the association – will manage all the territories of the association, not a separate parish area. The main objective of these changes is to maximise the use of administrations, finance, human resources and technical resources so that the entire association has a common approach to the tasks of the local government. Unfortunately, so far, there was a situation that the financial resources, property and other technical resources held by associations of associations were not used rationally within the same association. The Heads of Administration and their deputy will be determined at the time of acceptance in parish to maintain a link with the population.
Distribution of associations of associations of associations
As mentioned above, the following structure is planned as a result of internal reorganisation of the administrations: management, handling, accounting, holding and technical support departments and other entities, depending on the delegated function. In the new governance structure there will no longer be a breakdown at the level of parish administrations, for example, there will no longer be public utilities in each parish, but one unit – the farm and technical support division – with all employees of this unit, it will have one manager. In this context, the existing employees of the administrations will be informed in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Labour Law and within the time period regarding amendments to employment contracts, but the managers of existing parish administrations will be evaluated as potential deputy managers of existing administrations.
The new municipal law also stipulates that the staff of the new year will be recruited either from one local authority to another or by open competition.
Conclusions of the Working Group on the activities of associations of associations
In Rezekne, four associations of associations whose structure is slightly different from THOSE of THE Viļānu association have worked for almost four years. In the meantime, it has been observed that not all of the intended objectives have been achieved. The activities of associations of associations show a number of weaknesses which do not contribute to the smooth development of these areas and do not address economic matters operationally.
The working group, which analysed the business model of the associations of associations, concluded that the associations are still fragmented, there is an uneven planning and development of economic processes within the association. Use of allocated budget funds only within a particular rural area (excluding individual cases). The behaviour of managers of parish councils with municipal property and financial control from the leader of the association, which takes place due to the high congestion of the head of the institution. The structure of the four former Rēzekne municipality parish associations differs from THE management structure OF THE Viļānu association, which is considered to be an interfering factor in the establishment of the same approach and association structure. Insufficient coordination between parish administrations within the framework of a number of economic issues, such as the maintenance of municipal roads, the supply of fuels, the planning of acquisition of fixed assets for joint tasks, the development of water holdings, the transport of pupils, the organisation of cultural events, the involvement of citizens in dealing with important issues. It was also concluded that the existing division of units in higher and lower level units would not comply with the requirements of the new municipal law. Moreover, there is no effective governance model where both the management and the parish administration have one record-keeping system and accounting records. The Working Party also observed that in several cases feedback between the associations of associations and the central administration of the municipality and its departments is missing.
First reorganisation took place in 2019
It is recalled that in January 2019, a reorganisation of existing 25 parish administrations was carried out in the municipality of Rezekne, as local government institutions, establishing four parish associations: Dricānu association administration, Kaunatas association administration, Maltas association administration, Nautrēnu association administration.
In 2019, the reorganisation resulted in a reduced number of accounts from 22 to four. The reorganisation of accounts resulted in reduced expenditure of around EUR 180 thousand per year. In several parish administrations (top-level units – parish administrations), one head of administration was assigned to two parish administrations (Malta-Puša, Kaunata-Mākoņkalns, Sakstagals-Kantinieki, Dricāni-Stružāni, Gaigalava-Nagļi, since April 2021 also Vērēmi-Bērzgale). This reorganisation resulted in reduced expenditure of around 35 thousand EURO per year.
Section 23, Paragraph one of the New Local Government Law prescribes that in order to ensure the availability of services provided by a local government in rural parish and municipality cities, the local government council shall establish a parish or city administration or the management of the territorial division unit association. A local government council may establish a division of territorial division units (parish or parish and city), if the territorial division specified in the local government regulations includes an association of territorial division units, ensuring the services referred to in Paragraph three of this Section in each territorial division of the association. Draw attention to the fact that the association of the association is a combined parish administration whose territory of operation covers several territorial units.
On 1 July 2021, the interim administration of Rezekne municipality approved the municipal regulations of the municipality of Rezekne, which determined that the local government area was to be divided into five territorial units – parish associations, but the administration of these territorial units was provided by five associations of associations, they are: Dricānu association administration, Kaunatas association administration, Maltas association administration, Nautrēnu association administration and Viļānu association administration. Associations of associations shall be local government institutions with their budget, accounting records and property, they shall operate in accordance with the by-law of the institution. The associations of associations are taxpayers, they are registered in the list of public persons and institutions.
Services provided by associations of associations
Section 23, Paragraph three of the Local Government Law prescribes that the associations of associations shall provide at least the following services:
1) issue a certificate in accordance with the competence of the local government and provide information regarding matters within the competence of the local government;
2) accept payments of taxes and fees imposed by the State, the collection of which has been charged to the local government, as well as payments of the fees specified by the council and payments for the services provided by the local government;
3) pay social benefits of the local government;
4) accept submissions and organise the provision of answers to the relevant persons;
5) ensure the availability of information regarding decisions taken by the council.
As seen from the law, the range of services provided by the administration is not as broad as we see in the day. This is because the municipal council has also delegated other obligations, such as the provision of public utilities, municipal roads and street maintenance, municipal property management, pupil transport and other economic activities. Similarly, associations of associations are now obliged to take care of the organisation of cultural life and youth work in rural areas.
Any change in society is always taken with some doubt or even fear, because it may initially seem unnecessary and incomprehensible. But the local government must think not only about today but also look at the future, organise the work of the local government in such a way that the financial resources and property at its disposal achieve the best results. We're sure we're all going to succeed!
Prepared by: Janis Troška, executive director of the municipality of Rezekne.