The delegate of the Government in Cantabria, Ainoa Quiñones, has highlighted that the Plan ‘The Administration near you’, promoted by the Ministry of Territorial Policy to bring the General Administration of the State (AGE) to the municipalities of between 500 and 8,000 inhabitants, has already reached 25 municipalities of Cantabria.
This was pointed out by the delegate on Tuesday in Valderredible where she participated in the presentation of this initiative in the region of Campoo together with the general secretary of Territorial Coordination of the Ministry of Territorial Policy, Myriam Álvarez, and the general director of the AGE in the Territory, Agustín Torres.
The presentation of the Plan ‘The Administration near you’ took place at the City Council of Valderredible, in Polientes, together with its mayor, Fernando Fernández, and the General Director of Local Administration of the Government of Cantabria, Rosa Valdés, and was attended by councilors, city mayors and neighbors.
Quiñones has indicated that this initiative, which will reach 68 municipalities in the Autonomous Community, Valderredible being the 25 in which it resides, seeks to facilitate that the inhabitants of the smaller towns do not have to travel and can carry out the procedures of the General Administration of the State from their municipality.
The delegate pointed out that "the Government of Spain is aware of the importance of proximity in the provision of services and procedures to strengthen cohesion and equal opportunities for citizens." In this regard, he stressed that “the Government of Spain works for all citizens, wherever they live. The citizens have to feel the Administration nearby.” The objective of the Government of Spain is, according to Quiñones, "to facilitate an Administration that is more useful".
“It is a very important program that shows that the citizens of rural areas have the same rights to the same provision of services as the citizens of large cities, in addition to being a decisive measure against depopulation,” said the delegate.
REACH ALL CITIZENS
The Secretary General of Territorial Coordination has pointed out that the Ministry has promoted this initiative “to reach neighbors who do not reach where the headquarters of the AGE are not”, in this case to the Government Delegation in Cantabria that is in Santander.
“Four billion euros have been launched to digitize and modernize the local, regional and state administration to facilitate the relationship of citizens with the administration and, in view of this, this type of training and information days in the municipalities with the neighbors are fundamental,” said Álvarez.
He explained that almost 500 government officials from all over Spain volunteered to visit the territory with the Plan ‘La Administración cerca de ti’ and go to the municipalities explaining procedures and facilitating the obtaining of digital certificates and cl@ve, which “are the keys to using e-government”.
And it has ended that “the idea is that in the near future one day a month each municipality will have an official of the Delegation to help the neighbors to make direct approaches with the AGE and respond to their doubts and queries.”
For his part, the mayor of Valderredible has considered that the approach of the AGE to the municipalities is an “important act for an area like ours, a very large municipality, with an average of three inhabitants per square kilometre, and an average age of more than 65 years.
This program, which is in its first phase of implementation, has already visited 25 municipalities in the region and has served almost 250 people. In this first phase, its activity is focused on providing information on different procedures with the State Administration and digital training, for which 20 digital certificates and 106 high certificates have already been issued through this program.
‘The Administration near you’ has been promoted by the Ministry of Territorial Policy together with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation and in collaboration with the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP). Through this program, the inhabitants of small towns will receive services from the General Administration of the State in its municipalities.