|
ONLINE VERSION |
|
|
PRINT VERSION |
|
Social responsibility
Municipality control list
Following the evaluation system of the Hungarian government E-GAMES (Government Assessment, Measuring and Evaluation System) established by the government itself (experiences from the region in The Civic World, issue 70), in this issue we write about the experiences of the municipality Pirea in Greece, gained by setting up the “control list”. The Hungarian and Greek experience were presented at the Workshop on exchanging information and knowledge about social responsibility in Europe and Central Asia, as successful examples. The workshop was held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it was organized by the World Bank.
In 2004 the municipality of Pirea in Greece for the first time applied the tool called control list, whose objective is to identify and address the areas in which inappropriate management and misuse of resources can be expected and to provide information about improving the municipality’s efficiency.
The control list collects useful information by contacts with counselors and public servants in the municipality, business subjects and civil society organizations. The control list consists of a series of issues regarding fields relevant for the municipality, which used to be generally perceived as fields where there was abuse or where there is a need for improvement due to addressing the issue of corruption.
Control list
(examples about part of the questions)
Complaints from the public
Is there an independent office in the municipality for complaints?
Is it familiar to the public and the staff?
Is it effective and respected?
Is there an opportunity for anonymous complaints?
Is there a program for testing the integrity of different departments in the municipality?
Budgeting
Is the budgeting process in the municipality open enough to the public?
Is the public actively and directly involved in determining the budget priorities of local authorities?
Purchases
Is the municipality’s purchase system perceived as just and fair?
Is it based on competition principles?
Are the purchases announced in advance and are they familiar to the public?
Are rules applied regarding conflict of interests?
Is there a regular revision of purchases?
Procedures for financial audit
Are the municipality’s financial reports regularly revised by independent auditors?
Is there an internal auditor?
Are the financial results revealed to the public on time and effectively?
Are measures taken for change and improvement of the systems and procedures as a result of the financial audits?
The initiative was carried out by the municipality and Transparency International Greece. An external independent expert was involved in the process and he had meetings with lots of respondents. After the period of diagnosing, the results were presented in front of the municipality. Some of the key findings were:
· Ethic frame – lack of ethic behavior code for the mayor, his deputy, the counselors and the older staff;
· Revealing property – a statement regarding the property was required only from the mayor;
· Complaints from the public – all the interviewed stated that the mayor was open for complaints, but there was no specialized office to consequently take measures after the citizens’ complaints and there was no clear procedure for it.
As a result of this exercise, soon after the municipality adopted an ethic code and along with Transparency International Greece kept on working on the improvement of its openness, reporting, responsibility and integrity.
|
|
|
|
|
