EC Russia Public Sector Institutional Reform Project

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EC Russia Public Sector Institutional Reform
Project

• Administrative reform and its role in improving
  service standards and the public administration
  European perspectives and their relevance for the
  Russian Federation
• Neil Parison, Moscow, 17 November 2005

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Contents

• 1. Indicative timescales and coverage of public
  sector reform activities in 4 EU member states
  Belgium, Finland, France, Sweden
• 2. Relevance of EU member state experience for
  administrative reform in the Russian Federation

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Belgium Context

• Small Federal state
• Open economy
• Public trust in government 31 in 1991
• 1991 elections objectives for public sector
  reform
• Make public service more responsive and
  accountable
• Reduce public debt 132 in 1990
• New managerial paradigm

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Belgium Reform program management

• 1985 State secretary for modernising the public
  service
• 1987 Modernization cells in all ministries
• 1987 Secretariat of Modernization
• 1993 Office for Modernization and Organization
• 1995 Ministry for Civil Service
• 1995 Office for Organization and Management
• 2001 Ministry of Personnel and Organization

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Belgium Administrative reform

• 1993 Public service users charter
• 1994 Law on access to information
• 1995 Federal Ombudsman
• 1999 Restructure ministries and autonomy
• 1999 Internal and external communications
• 2001-03 BPR in restructured ministries

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Belgium Civil service reform

• 1991-94 General principles for civil service
• 1997 Instructions on recruitment, evaluation,
  mobility
• 1999 HRM modernization
• 2000 Reform of recruitment and selection office
• 2000-03 Assessment for top managers
• 2001 HRM cells in all federal ministries

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Belgium Budget reform

• 1985 Program budgeting
• 1990-95 Zero based budgeting
• 2000 New budgeting and control cycle
• 2000 Office of Budgeting and Control
• 2000 Internal audit service in all ministries

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Finland Context

• Unitary state with relatively autonomous
  municipal government
• GDP fell by 12 1990-93
• No great pressure for reforms from citizens
• Gradual development of consensus on
• streamlining government
• reducing expenditures and shift from input
  budgets to results
• service quality improvements
• citizen participation and e-governance

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Finland Reform program management

• 1987 Ministerial Committee for Public Management
  Reform
• 1987 Administrative Development Agency
• 1995 Ministerial WG on Public Management Reform
• 1995 Evaluation Programme on Public Management
  Reforms

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Finland Administrative reform

• 1989-97 Transformation of agencies into state
  enterprises
• 1991-2 Unification of different ministries at
  regional level
• 1993 Management by results performance
  contracts, annual report
• 1996 110 one stop shops
• 1998 Service charters
• 1999 Revised act on openness of government
  activity
• 2001 Incentives for performance oriented
  steering by ministries
• 2002 National public sector portal
• 2002 Openness, transparency and citizen
  participation

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Finland Civil service reform

• 1990 Personnel policy reform proposals
• 1991 Top management training programme
• 1994 Civil Servants Act
• 1997 PRP and decentralized management
• 1998 Evaluation of state personnel policy
• 2000 Management development for senior civil
  servants
• 2000 Annual report on human resources

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Finland Budget reform

• 1987-90 Results oriented budgeting piloted
• 1993 Framework central government support to
  municipalities
• 1994 Roll out of results oriented budgeting to
  whole government
• 1996-98 Accruals accounting

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France Context

• Unitary state with multiparty system and strong
  directly elected Presidency
• Consistently high unemployment and recent social
  tensions
• Limited demand for reform from citizens but
  drastic decline in confidence in the political
  elite
• Objectives
• Restore legitimacy
• Modernization
• Decentralization and deconcentration

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France Reform project management

• 1992 Ministry for Public Sector and
  Administrative Reforms
• 1993 Committee for the Reorganization and
  Deconcentration of the State Administration
• 1995 Interministerial Committee for State Reform
• 1995 Committee for the Simplification of
  Administrative Functions
• 1998 General Direction of the Administration and
  Civil Service
• 1999 Interministerial Delegation for State Reform
• 1999 Standing Commission for the Modernization of
  Public Service
• 2001 Institute for Public Sector and Economic
  Development

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France Administrative reform

• 1989 Ministry modernization plans (and IT)
• 1990 101 decentralization and regulatory
  simplification measures
• 1993 Four year ministry plans for reorganization
  and deconcentration
• 1998 Multiannual program of modernization
• 2000 State Reform Program
• 2000 Modern public management system
• 2001 e-government reform
• 2001-02 Public procurement code reform

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France Civil service reform

• 1986-90 Personnel policy innovation and quality,
  HRM, participation
• 1994 Act covering appointing civil servants and
  regulating their departure
• 1996-2000 Public employment observatory
• 1996-2000 Improved professionalism through
  training
• 1999-2000 Creation of specialist networks

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France Budget reform

• 1988 Cost effectiveness
• 1990 Budgetary autonomy
• 1994 Circular on control of financial management
• 1995 Deconcentration of financial control of
  deconcentrated spending
• 1996 Circular on reform of budgetary process
• 2001 Creation of Agence France Tresor

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Sweden Context

• Unitary but decentralized state
• Open economy with relatively homogenous society
• Large public sector as GDP (welfare state)
• Small of public servants at central government
  level
• Objectives
• Fiscal pressures deficit 13 of GDP in 1982
• Decentralization, economizers, traditionalists
• Increased user responsiveness
• Deregulation and debureacratization

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Sweden Reform program management

• 1982 Ministry of Public Administration
• 1985 Government Modernization Program
  (decentralization)
• 1988 Renewal of Ministry of Public Administration
• 1991 Ministry of Finance responsible for central
  matters of public administration
• 1998 National Financial Management Authority
• 1999 National Council for Quality and Development

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Sweden Administrative reform

• 1986-90 New instructions for 200 agencies
  results, objectives, autonomy
• 1992 Ordinances for all agencies clearer goals
  and control of results
• 1996 Corporatization of state activities
• 2000 Commission on public access to official
  records

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Sweden Civil service reform

• 1988 Act delegating employment flexibility to
  agency directors
• 1988 Public Employment Act modernized
• 1991 Civil service classification system
• 1992 Agencies responsible for training and
  development
• 1992 Financial management training programme
• 2001 New skills requirements on civil servants

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Sweden Budget reform

• 1985 Three year budget experiment
• 1988 Results based management
• 1992 Budget process review
• 1993 New approaches to financial control of
  agencies
• 1994 Internal audits of government agencies
• 1998 Performance follow-up reports (260 agencies)
• 1998-2000 Performance-based budgets from
  accruals accounting to accruals budgeting

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Contents

• 1. Indicative timescales and coverage of public
  sector reform activities in 4 EU member states
  Belgium, Finland, France, Sweden
• 2. Relevance of EU member state experience for
  administrative reform in the Russian Federation

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Russia Context

• Huge and complex Federal state
• Relatively undiversified economy
• Pervasive corruption and problematic investment
  climate
• Objectives
• Strong state, internal effectiveness, top-down
  implementation, control and discipline
• Democratic state, external accountability,
  transparency and increased participation reduce
  corruption

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Russia Context for public administration reform

• CSS Program 2000
• Structural reforms
• Social reforms
• State reforms

• Government programs
• Federal Okrugs
• IGF framework
• Local self-governance
• Judicial reform
• Civil service reform
• Budget reform
• Administrative reform

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RFG programs Administrative, civil service, and
budget reform (anticorruption?)
AR Managing Government performance Goals and
indicators Strategic planning Internal/external ac
countability Transparency Participation
AR Structure Functions Admin. regulations Service
standards BPR/IT Internet
CSR Merit Competition Training Development Pay
reform Ethics Conflict of interest
BR Medium-term budget framework Performance-based
budgeting Eliminating unfinanced mandates
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RFG programs Administrative, civil service, and
budget reform inter-dependencies
Managing Government performance The heart of
public sector reform (Delivery of outcomes
Goals and indicators)
Admin reform Structure, systems, process
infrastructure for effective Govt performance
CSR Human infrastructure for effective
Govt performance
Budget reform and the budget process The motor
of public sector reform Involves all managers
can provide incentives to support reforms
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Context for strengthening government performance
RF Government Work-program
Annual Addresses of RF President to Federation
Council
RF Government Medium-term Economic and
Social Reforms Program
RFG key goals, priorities
RFG Budget
Performance indicators
Monitoring and evaluations of Government
effectiveness
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RFG reform program components
Performance management
Functional reviews
Ministry statute
Performance based budgeting
BPR
Administrative regulations
Internal accountability
Service standards
External accountability and reporting
IT Modernization Electronic service delivery
Job descriptions
Performance appraisal
Transparency
Merit, pay reform, ethics and values
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RF reforms in EU perspective

• Substance of reform agenda in line with EU member
  state reforms over last 20 years
• Central agency capacity for management of the
  reform agenda needs development given scale of
  agenda
• Less emphasis so far in Russia on
• -change management
• -communications (internal and external)
• -consultation (internal and external)
• -management development and training

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Russia Reform implementation risks

• Lack of political will and of consistent top-down
  pressure
• Internal opposition
• Lack of internal consensus
• Good policies, weak implementation
• Lack of external belief in possibility of reforms
• Respecting the constitution while steering the
  regions
• Short window to achieve results before next
  election cycle

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Russia Risk mitigation

• Provide internal incentives to support reform
  use budget and performance report process
• Generate external pressure for reform through
  increasing awareness and creating expectations
• Identify easy wins and pilots and disseminate
  lessons and roll out and replicate

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Russia Selecting early wins and pilots

• Prioritize direct and painful interactions
  between public officials and the citizens or the
  private sector (public resentment constraints to
  private sector development)
• Mobilize top-down political support to counter
  deeply entrenched direct economic interests and
  corruption (linking impact of reforms with
  election outcomes)
• Prioritize small number of symbolic areas to
• build reform momentum (short-term results)
• send signal within system that change is
  inevitable
• begin to build external awareness that change is
  possible
• and hence increase external demand for reforms