Virginia Barcones informs the mayors about the services provided by the Government of Spain in the province and how to access them

• More than 60 mayors receive specific and useful explanations from each of those responsible for the services deployed in the province by the General Administration of the State • The municipalities of the province have received more than 1.5 million from the State Pact Against Gender Violence • The program ‘The Administration near you’, which has already brought information to 41 municipalities of the province, has carried out 86 certificates and permanent keys

November 13, 2023.- The delegate of the Government in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, accompanied by the subdelegate of the Government in Soria, Miguel Latorre, has met today with more than 60 mayors of the province. During the working meeting, all the services that the Government of Spain provides in the provincial territory as well as the way to access them have been explained to them. The meeting was attended by area chiefs of the services that the General Administration of the State (AGE) provides to citizens.

The delegate recalled that the objective of the meeting that has taken place in the Antonio Machado Tourism Parador of the capital is to ensure that the best service is provided to citizens and to this end she has considered it essential to promote maximum collaboration between institutions, from coordination and loyal cooperation, in favor of the general interest. He has considered that it is a fruitful working day, especially for those mayors who after the elections last May are for the first time in charge of a Mayor’s Office. “Service managers are going to share with the mayors their tasks and they are going to be able to face up, have a direct discussion of general and particular issues,” said the delegate.

The functions of the Government Subdelegation in Soria include collaboration and coordination with other public administrations. The relationship with local authorities is particularly important for monitoring the implementation and compliance of state funding programmes and ensuring information for citizens.

USEFUL STATE SERVICES INFORMATION

For more than two hours, the mayors who attended the meeting were able to listen, talk and ask the main leaders of many of the peripheral services of the General State Administration (AGE) in the province to get a clear and concise idea of what functions each one performs and how the action of their department affects their municipalities and the people living in them.

Thus, they have been present to answer the questions and resolve responsible doubts of the areas that are integrated in the Government Subdelegation units: Agriculture, Industry and Energy or Labour and Immigration. Among other heads of the various areas that make up the General Administration of the State in the province not integrated into the Subdelegation, the mayors present have acceded to the explanations offered by the heads of National Police, Civil Guard Command, the General Directorate of Traffic, the National Institute and the General Treasury of Social Security and the Public Service of State Employment.

They have also provided useful information from the Provincial Telecommunications Inspectorate, the Provincial Highway Unit, the Cadastre Management, the State Reference Center for Dependent Persons, Penitentiary Institutions or the Tax Administration Agency, among other services that the AGE provides to local entities and citizens.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the public company TRAGSA, which, through its subsidiary Tragsatec, provides the municipalities of Castilla y León, with preference to those with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, with information on the calls for PRTR aid that may be requested by their municipality. In Soria there are four technicians, 40 in Castilla y León. Barcones has indicated that in the next seven years the same amount of funds will be managed as in the previous 34 years. In the case of the DUS 5000, 15 million euros have already been allocated to finance 38 projects in the province. “We are talking about hundreds of millions that are currently managed by local entities,” he said.

Virginia Barcones has made it clear that mayors should not have “any qualms about asking questions about issues that affect their municipalities or their citizens,” since the final objective of the meeting is “to make known the services of the AGE and establish ties that allow us to improve the living conditions of our neighbors.”

OVER 1.5 MILLION AGAINST GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

Under the State Pact against Gender Violence, the province of Soria has been allocated 371,700 euros this year. Since 2018 and until this 2023, the municipalities of the province have reached more than 1.5 million. In the whole of Castile and Leon 22.6 million.

Since the amendment of the Law on Local Regime Bases, municipalities have been competent to carry out activities in the field of combating gender violence. The examples of events carried out in Castilla y León by the municipalities that receive these funds are very varied and range from the usual merchandising to graphic or audiovisual campaigns, through explanatory guides or conferences and congresses among other actions. These actions must be continued throughout the year ensuring the development of an activity on two key dates, November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women; and March 8, Women’s Day.

In addition, municipalities with between 550 and 19,999 inhabitants are now beginning to receive a laptop for the management of the Service for Care and Protection of Women Victims of Gender Violence (ATENPRO). These computers, financed by PRTR grants that the Government grants to the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, must be made available “to the professionals who run the Atenpro Service, the social services”.

The Subdelegation of the Government in Soria offers a broad Charter of services to citizens and, in addition, a Charter of electronic services aimed at facilitating citizens’ communication with the Administration by electronic means, at any time and from anywhere in the province, because the investment in digital technology of recent years has facilitated new services that can be processed totally or partially electronically without the need for travel.

ADMINISTRATION NEAR YOU

The intense day of work between the General Administration of the State and the Local Entities has also served to take stock of the long journey of the program ‘The Administration near you’, which the Government launched at the end of last year. It is a project that has already brought the information on the state services by municipalities of the province hand in hand and with the direct explanation of the public employees of the Government Subdelegation.

It is an initiative of the Ministry of Territorial Policy, in collaboration with the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces. In each locality, the displaced public employees inform all the neighbours who want to get closer about the services provided by the sub-delegations and government delegations; the operation of the e-government; the access and use of the citizen folder, the digital certificate of natural person and permanent key.

In addition, at the end of each meeting, the possibility of obtaining this digital certification is offered to the attendees to facilitate all electronic procedures with the Administration, among them some of the most requested ones such as those related to retirement, working life, driving license points or access to the young cultural voucher.

In Soria, 86 certificates and permanent keys have been made in situ as well as the recovery of six keys during the 41 visits to localities that have taken place and in which hundreds of people have attended and have traveled 2,450 kilometers. During the month of November this program has visited Bayubas de Abajo and before the end of the month it will visit Quintana Redonda, Tajueco and Gómara. “We are going to reach all the municipalities, reaching all the neighbors so that they do not have to move,” he said.

REDUCE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

This initiative of the Government of Spain contributes to reducing the digital divide that separates citizens who have a higher level of digital performance from those who encounter more difficulties, especially in attention to the older and lower income people, who are the ones who need the most help in this process.

‘The Administration close to you’ seeks to strengthen territorial and social cohesion, contribute to establishing population in the rural environment and reinforce equal opportunities in access to public services.

In this regard, the delegate of the Government has indicated that broadband will be a reality for all of Castilla y León in 2025 thanks to the Single Broadband Program. He has also referred to the Unico Rural programme as a temporary solution to this extension of broadband. The Unico Rural allows you to have internet of 100 megas via satellite for 35 euros. In total, in the province of Soria more than 52 million euros will be invested for the internet and telephony, through the 5G Program, to reach all points of the territory, 33 million for the extension of broadband and 19 for telephony.