A presentation given by Karen Hill, Head of SIGMA (Support for Improvement in Governance and Management) at a workshop on efficiency and effectiveness in public administration amongst the Balkan countries, held in Ankara 24 and 25 April. Participants from the Prime Ministries of five countries Turkey, Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina shared their experience and debated issues such as how to reduce administrative burdens on citizens and business.

1. © OECD
AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Ankara
April 2014
Public Administration Reform:
Efficiency and Effectiveness
Karen Hill
Head of SIGMA

2. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Outline of the presentation
1) What is SIGMA, what do we do and who do we work with?
2) Why care about good public governance?
3) The link to public administration reform (PAR)
4) Some tools of PAR to help achieve good public governance
5) Better regulation
6) E-government
7) Conclusion
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3. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
What is SIGMA and what do we do?
• SIGMA is part of the Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial
Development of the OECD and we are a joint initiative of the OECD
and European Union (EU)
• We have been working with countries to strengthen their public
governance systems and the capacities of their public administrations
for over 20 years
• All senior advisors in SIGMA have extensive professional experience
from their own public administration
• We provide short-term technical assistance in key areas of public
administration reform (PAR), help to develop and implement PAR
strategies and action plans, undertake studies on public governance
and carry out assessments of progress in countries
• We facilitate sharing of experience between countries: OECD and EU
member states, and SIGMA partner countries
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4. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
SIGMA’s areas of expertise
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5. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Who does SIGMA work with?
Two groups of countries:
• Turkey and Western Balkan countries, financed through the
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)
• Eleven countries of the European Neighbourhood, financed through
the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI)
We build long-term relationships with partners in countries:
• Prime Ministries
• General Secretariats / Government Offices
• Ministries of Public Administration
• Ministries of Finance
• Supreme Audit Institutions
• Public procurement bodies
• Parliaments and oversight bodies
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6. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
What do we mean by public governance?
• Wikipedia: Governance refers to all the processes and decisions of
governing, whether through laws, norms, power or language … It is
the way that rules and actions are produced, regulated, implemented
and sustained.
• UNDP: The exercise of economic, political and administrative
authority to manage a country’s affairs … mechanisms, processes, and
institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their
interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations and
mediate differences.
• World Bank: Public governance is based on public sector
management, a competitive private sector, the structure of
government, civil society participation and voice, and political
accountability.
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7. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Why should we care about
good public governance?
• OECD: The role of public sector economics and governance is crucial
for economic and social well-being.
• UNDP: Good governance is participatory, transparent and
accountable. It is also effective and equitable. And it promotes the
rule of law. Good governance ensures that political, social and
economic priorities are based on broad consensus in society and that
the voices of the poorest and the most vulnerable are heard in
decision-making over the allocation of development resources.
• World Bank: Good governance is associated with democracy and good
civil rights, with transparency, with the rule of law, and with efficient
public services.
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8. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
What is the link with public
administration reforms?
• The public administration is an important means of delivering public
governance – others include the Parliament, oversight bodies and an
active civil society
• For EU member states, public administration is a domestic matter BUT
they have to implement EU directives and recommendations in such a
way that citizens and businesses are able to enjoy the rights granted
to them, regardless of which country they live in
• So each national administration needs to have comparable quality and
professionalism in its administrative capacity – sharing of experience
and good practice is a key part of achieving this
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9. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Some tools of
public administration reform
• Better regulation: regulations are one of the key levers by which
governments act to promote economic prosperity, enhance welfare
and pursue the public interest
Well-designed and effectively implemented regulation can generate
significant social and economic benefits, which outweigh the costs of
regulation and contribute to social well-being
• E-government: the use by government institutions of information
technologies to transform relations with citizens and businesses e.g.
through better delivery of government services to citizens, improved
interactions with businesses, faster and simplified processes, and
greater access to information
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10. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Better regulation,
an end-to-end process
• From developing government policies to implementing them,
reviewing their impacts and monitoring how effectively they are
achieving the Government’s objectives
• Both the OECD and EU emphasise the importance of effective and
coherent better regulation strategies
• Key elements: open and participative policy making processes,
including effective consultation, a consistent framework for analysing
options and impacts, emphasis on importance of effective
implementation and subsequent monitoring, review of stock of
significant regulation over time
• Recommendations of the OECD’s Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC):
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11. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
OECD recommendations
1) Commit at the highest political level to an explicit whole-of-
government policy for regulatory quality … clear objectives and
frameworks for implementation to ensure that if regulation is used,
the economic, social and environmental benefits justify the costs,
the distributional effects are considered and net benefits are
maximised.
2) Adhere to principles of open government, including transparency
and participation in the regulatory process to ensure that regulation
serves the public interest and is informed by the legitimate needs of
those interested in and affected by regulation. This includes
providing meaningful opportunities (including online) for the public
to contribute to the process of preparing draft regulatory proposals
and to the quality of the supporting analysis. Governments should
ensure that regulations are comprehensible and clear and that
parties can easily understand their rights and obligations.
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12. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
OECD recommendations
3) Establish mechanisms and institutions to actively provide oversight
of regulatory policy procedures and goals, support and implement
regulatory policy, and thereby foster regulatory quality.
4) Integrate Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) into the early stages
of the policy process for the formulation of new regulatory
proposals. Clearly identify policy goals, evaluate if regulation is
necessary and how it can be most effective and efficient in achieving
those goals. Consider means other than regulation and … identify the
best approach.
5) Conduct systematic programme reviews of the stock of significant
regulation against clearly defined policy goals, including
consideration of costs and benefits, to ensure that regulations
remain up to date, cost justified, cost effective and consistent, and
deliver the intended policy objectives.
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13. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Cutting red tape in the UK
Two key components:
1) Citizens can challenge existing regulation: the Red Tape Challenge
was launched in 2011 to promote open discussion of ways in which
the aims of existing regulation can be met in the least burdensome
way
2) Use of e-government tools to improve consultation, sharing of
information and facilitation of open data
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14. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
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15. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
E-government
• Important to remember that e-government tools are just that – tools;
the policies, regulations and public administration organisation
underlying them are critical
• Some of the benefits: sharing of information, allowing participation of
citizens, online provision of public services, achieving efficiencies
• E-government involves the use of information technologies that serve
a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to
citizens, improved interactions with business, faster and wider
access to information and more efficient public administration
management
• The resulting benefits can be less corruption, increased transparency,
greater convenience, revenue growth and/or cost reductions (for
government and end-users)
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16. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
E-government
OECD’s 2011 Government at a Glance uses indicators to compare the
political and institutional frameworks of governments in OECD
countries. On e-government it found that:
Citizens and businesses increasingly prefer and use digital channels.
The online provision of public services increases access and provides
greater convenience for users while reducing costs for all involved,
including governments.
For these reasons, governments around the world invest significant
resources in the delivery of online services, particularly in the current
context of fiscal austerity when they are trying to do more with less.
Ensuring the cost-effectiveness of these investments relies heavily
on the uptake of e-government services by citizens and businesses.
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17. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Conclusion
Public administration reform is a complex but extremely important topic
for any country. It is about providing the best possible administration and
services, at all levels of government, to our citizens and businesses.
It is also about contributing to a fair and open society, competitive
markets and inclusive economic growth, and maximising the potential of
our cities and regions.
Thank you and I look forward to an interesting and successful conference!
karen.hill@oecd.org
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