Administrative Decentralisation
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Transcript of Administrative Decentralisation
Harmonisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance
ContentWhat is administrative decentralisation?FormsSubsidiarity principleExerciseImplementation challengesVertical and horizontal coordinationHuman resource issues at the local levelCapacity development
What is it?Administrative decentralisation is the transfer
of responsibility for planning, financing and managing public functions to:
Field units of government agenciesSubordinate units or levels of governmentSemi-autonomous public authorities or
corporations Areawide, regional or functional
authorities
Multilevel governance
Administrative decentralisation seeks to redistribute authority, responsibility and financial resources for providing public services among different levels of government.
FormsDeconcentration
Shifting decision-making power to central government officials located outside the capital, fully accountable to the center
DelegationShifting responsibilities to semi-autonomous government bodies or NGOs ultimately fully accountable to the center(service agencies, housing authorities, school districts etc)
Devolution Shifting fiscal powers and decision-making responsibilities to subnational governments in which subnational governments are granted substantive decision-making authority
Subsidiarity
Subsidiarity principle as starting point for re-organising public functions:Government services should be provided at the lowest level of government that can do so efficiently.
Subsidiarity principleEuropean Charter on Local Self-Government, article
4:*Public responsibilities shall generally be exercised,
in preference, by those authorities which are closest to the citizen. Allocation of responsibility to another authority should weigh up the extent and nature of the task and requirements of efficiency and economy.
* Powers given to local authorities shall normally be full and exclusive. They may not be undermined or limited by another, central or regional, authority except as provided for by the law.
Subsidiarity principle in practiceResponsibility for policy and regulation:
often central governmentResponsibility for financing: local social
services most often financed centrally, local economic functions can be financed locally
Responsibility for provision of the service: can often be done by local authorities
Delivery of the service: either local government or private sector
Decentralised service delivery
Functions often devolved to subnational government:
Basic educationBasic health servicesAgricultural extensionRural water supplyLocal roadsUrban services (public utilities, sanitation)
Finding the appropriate mix
Before defining the most appropriate level of government to perform the service, it is important to carefully analyse the types of decentralisation already present in order to tailor policy plans to existing structures.
Assess the existing forms of administrative decentralisation in the sector you work in. Identify the responsibilities of the various government levels for: - Policy & regulation-Financing-Provision of the service-Delivery of the service
Implementation challenges Shifting of roles and powers between national
and subnational government (civil service reform)
Long-lasting institutional relationships destabilised for better or worse
Concerted efforts necessary to coordinate better between units of government
Local challenges for human resourcesCapacity support at local level (to assume
responsibility for new functions) ánd national level (to better coordinate and supervise)
Need for coordination-When national governments decentralise
responsibilities, they retain important policy and supervisory roles.
- Central government has to promote and sustain decentralisation by developing appropriate and effective national policies and regulations for decentralisation.
- Coordination becomes more complicated in case of shared rather than exclusive responsibilities!
Vertical and horizontal coordination
Vertical coordination: between different levels of government
Horizontal coordination: across similar levels of subnational (government)
Vertical coordination - challengesHow to ensure a certain degree of monitoring
of quality of performance without compromising the newly found subnational decentralisation?
How to promote coordination without, de facto, end up facilitating re-centralisation?
Too much perceived ´quality control´ may in the end erode the newly found discretion of la´s.
Plenty of grey areas for interpretation and power struggles.
Vertical coordination - solutions
Legal and regulatory framework supported by:
A permanent body with proper representation at various levels to address concurrent coordination issues and to give subnational governments institutional space for defending their interests
Cabinet level actor (like Ministry of LG) charged exclusively with the implementation of decentralisation - across sectors
The intermediate levelDecentralisation also has implications for the intermediate government level:
- Centre consciously disempowers intermediate levels seen as threats by transferring resources directly to local level, or:
- Intermediate levels are overly favoured, ultimately ending up reenacting the previous paternalistic role of the centre towards local level governments.
Horizontal coordination- Subnational governments of the same level
who join as a group to represent and defend their interests:MunicipalitiesMayors or governorsChief executives and other professionals
Preferably a broad representation from across the national territory, but also regional associations
Horizontal coordination - functions
Share lessons and experiences which might otherwise never see the public light or debate
Lobby to defend and promote wider interests of the collective group vis-a-vis central level
Form partnerships for the provision of local public services
Cooperate on a regional level in developing infrastructure and realising economic development
Coordination lessonsWhen governments opt for decentralisation,
they must take into account implications for coordination (if unaddressed: tensions, rivalries and non- performance)
Coordination must also take place between intermediate and local level government (if not intermediate levels left in limbo or local levels at mercy of intermediate level)
Human resources
Subnational governments having the power to determine terms of services, civil service structures and human resources policies (pay scales, performance based incentives, hiring and firing personnel) are better able to hire a civil service that matches community´s needs and budget constraints.
Human resources - challenges
Skewed distribution of human resources because skilled civil servants mostly prefer to work for the more developed areas.
Shortages of skilled people: smaller units of government have less opportunity to build expertise. Exacerbated when responsibilities are diviedd up among smaller jurisdictions.
Human resources - solutionsCadre system in which highly skilled civil
servants rotate between more and less developed regions (India)
Sending skilled servants from central government to less developed areas (Ethiopia)
Incentives to people who work in difficult/unpopular areas
Pooling resources for specialised staff or central consultancy services
Other examples from the group?
Capacity DevelopmentSubnational levels have to adapt to their
newly assigned responsibilities in service delivery
National level has to create conditions, set standards and supervise
National government has to ´let go´
More on this during the afternoon discussion and on Day 4
Government bureaucracy
Responsibility