Strategy for Public Administration Reform in Ukraine 2019 Implementation Report TABLE of CONTENT
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Strategy for Public Administration Reform in Ukraine 2019 Implementation Report TABLE OF CONTENT 3 Abbreviations 4 Introduction 6 1. Overview of progress in implementation of the Strategy for Public Administration Reform 9 2. Financing of the Strategy for Public Administration Reform 12 3. Progress in implementation of the Strategy for Public Administration Reform 12 3.1. Strategic planning, coordination of policy development and implementation 16 3.2. Civil service and human resource management 23 3.3. Accountability – organization, transparency, oversight 29 3.4. Administrative procedures, administrative services and e-governance 40 4. The way forward 42 ANNEXES 42 Annex 1. Delivery of PAR Strategy Implementation Plan in 2019 65 Annex 2. Achievement of PAR Strategy Indicators in 2019 68 Annex 3. PAR financing 71 Annex 4. Simplification of delivery of administrative services 74 Annex 5. Study of organizational culture in Ukrainian civil service 2 Strategy for Public Administration Reform in Ukraine 2019 Implementation Report #PublicAdministrationReform ПЕРЕЛІК СКОРОЧЕНЬ ТА АБРЕВІАТУР ASC Administrative services centre CEB Central executive body CMU Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine DG Director General EU European Union HRM Human resource management HRMIS Human resource management information system NACS National Agency on Civil Service OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development PAR Public administration reform RSP Reform staff positions SCMU Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine SIGMA Support for Improvement in Governance and Management Programme 3 Strategy for Public Administration Reform in Ukraine 2019 Implementation Report #PublicAdministrationReform INTRODUCTION The year of 2019 was marked by election of the new President of Ukraine, followed by the parliamentary elections that yielded a renewal of more than half of the Ukrainian Parliament’s composition. The ruling party installed the majority government. The hallmark of both elections was the wide public demand for renewal of power. Largely, these were the developments that were shaping the dynamics and direction of public administration reform in 2019. On September 19, the Parliament adopted the Law No. 117 amending some Laws of Ukraine to facilitate the ‘re-set of power’. It aimed to deliver radical renewal of the civil service and introduced, inter alia, some key changes in laws governing public administration, namely: • Simplified the procedure of dismissal of civil servants; • Simplified competitive recruitment in civil service; • Extended powers of the cabinet of ministers and its secretariat concerning drafting of government acts. An important change in the operation of public administration was a shift towards speedy adoption of laws requiring the Government to prepare and approve multiple amendments to regulations. The Government itself was subject to a reshuffle resulting in fewer ministries and some central executive bodies being reorganized. The Government declared an intention to digitalize public administration and began to energetically pursue this ambition. Notwithstanding these political changes, the Government preserved its commitment to public administration reform, and the following initiatives were implemented in 2019: • Increased role of the ‘centre of government’ and the National Agency on Civil Service in policy making regarding public administration; • Consolidation of authority regarding delivery of administrative services; • Approval of a common target model of a ministry based on the pilot reorganization of ministries in 2017-2019; • The Concept of Reform Staff Positions expanded to cover all ministries; • Approval of amendments to the Government’s Rules of Procedure; • Vacancies portal career.gov.ua expanded to cover all categories of civil service positions in ministries; • Launch of the mobile application DIIA, with functionality allowing to use electronic driver’s license and vehicle registration card. Significant challenges in 2019 were: • Weakened stability of civil service due to simplified dismissal procedure; • Dismissal of a number of state secretaries and other senior civil servants; • Reorganization of bodies of government; 4 Strategy for Public Administration Reform in Ukraine 2019 Implementation Report #PublicAdministrationReform • Frequent changes in civil service recruitment procedures; • Sensitive issues regarding salaries of politicians and civil servants and decline in attractiveness of civil service; • Speedy changes in legislation with heightened risk of mistakes. Public administration reform requires cooperation between multiple stakeholders and strong communication support. In 2019, the European Union and other international organizations, together with the Ukrainian civil society, continued to be reliable partners of Ukrainian Government in furthering the implementation of public administration reform. Preserving the strategic outlook of the reform, the Government decided to prioritize digitalization of administrative services, streamlining of internal management processes, upgrading of policy development processes, and improvement of overall quality of government decisions. The European principles of good governance provide a framework and benchmarks to measure Ukraine’s progress in reforming its public administration. 5 Strategy for Public Administration Reform in Ukraine 2019 Implementation Report #PublicAdministrationReform 1. OVERVIEW OF PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGY FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM The public administration reform is being implemented in line with the Strategy for Public Administration Reform (hereinafter – PAR Strategy)1 adopted in June 2016, aiming to bring the system of public administration closer to the European Administrative Space. The PAR Strategy was designed based on the SIGMA Principles of Public Administration defining what good governance entails, in close partnership with Ukrainian and European experts. In 2018, SIGMA carried out Baseline Measurement – the first comprehensive assessment of public administration in Ukraine. The findings confirmed the progress in pursuit of public administration reform and issued recommendations served as a basis for updating the PAR Strategy and Implementation Plan. The revised PAR Strategy contains 21 performance indicators and 69 actions. Implementation timelines in 2019 concerned 49 actions of which 34 were fully implemented and one action was implemented earlier than planned, making the overall implementation rate at 71%. The remaining actions are in the process of implementation. Summary review of 2019 implementation is presented in Annex 1. The revised PAR Strategy, for the first time, provides quantitative measures of implementation. Among 21 indicators, 2019 targets were established for 17 indicators, of which 11 targets (65%) were fully achieved, one target was partially achieved, and 5 targets were not achieved. Achievement status of PAR Strategy indicators is discussed in section 2. Activities Indicators Implemented Achieved 71% 65% PAR COORDINATION The overall high-level coordination of implementation of the PAR Strategy is carried out by the Coordinating Council for Public Administration Reform2 (hereinafter – the PAR Coordinating Council). It is composed of representatives of the executive authorities, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Office of the President of Ukraine, and civil society, thus ensuring effective coordination and promoting openness and transparency in PAR implementation. International partners and other stakeholder are invited to participate in the meetings. 1 Ordinance of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 474 of June 24, 2016 “Some Issues of Public Administration Reform in Ukraine”. 2 The PAR Coordinating Council was established by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 335 of May 18, 2016 “On Coordinating Council for Public Administration Reform”. 6 Strategy for Public Administration Reform in Ukraine 2019 Implementation Report #PublicAdministrationReform From the time of formal establishment, the PAR Coordinating Council has conducted 17 meetings, with three meetings taking place in 2019. During these meetings, the PAR Coordinating Council reviewed the PAR implementation progress and adopted decisions concerning the target structure of ministries and their involvement in the reform, discussed the proposed concept of civil servants’ salary reform, methodologies for analysis and optimization of business processes and procedures in government bodies, and addresses a range of other issued. In addition, as part of the Financing Agreement to support the public administration reform, regular meetings to discuss the reform progress and status are held in the format of EU-Ukraine Strategic Dialogue. In 2019, two such meetings were convened during which the reform implementation progress, successes and challenges were discussed with the European side. This dialogue outcome is common understanding of the state of play and comprehensive support to the reform. A crucial resource for reform implementation is expertise provided by EU4PAR project. Overview of PAR Strategy actions with implementation deadline by 31.12.2019 G I Actions Implemented Not implemented Total (according to Implementation Plan) (or with implemen- (or with significantly tation on track) delayed implementation) Strategic planning, coordination 4 / 67% 2 / 33% 6 of policy development and implementation Civil service and human resource 19 / 90% 2 / 10% 21 management Accountability – organization, 7 /