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

• More than 70 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 program ‘The Administration near you’ has brought information to 56 localities in which 1,420 digital certificates were made • The municipalities of the province have received more than 3.3 million from the State Pact Against Gender Violence

November 22, 2023.- The delegate of the Government in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, accompanied by the subdelegate of the Government in Burgos, Pedro de la Fuente, has met today with more than 70 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 27 area chiefs of the services that the General Administration of the State (AGE) provides to citizens.

The meeting took place at the headquarters of the State Reference Center for Care of People with Rare Diseases and their Families (BELIEVE). The objective of the meeting is to ensure that the best service is provided to citizens and for this it is essential to promote maximum collaboration between institutions, from coordination and loyal cooperation, in favor of the general interest. “We want to grease the coordination mechanism of two public administrations that already work together. We are going to explain to the mayors what functions we perform, we are going to face up and we are going to give the telephones of those responsible for service,” said Barcones.

Precisely, among the functions of the Government’s subdelegations is 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 units of Subdelegation of the Government in Burgos; Agriculture, Industry and Energy, Labor and Immigration, Unit against Violence on Women or Civil Protection.

Among other officials in the various areas that make up the General Administration of the State and that are not part of the Subdelegation, the mayors present have agreed to the explanations offered by heads of the National Police, the Civil Guard Command, the General Directorate of Traffic, Penitentiary Institutions, the National Institute and the General Treasury of Social Security and the State Public Employment Service.

They have also provided useful information from the Provincial Telecommunications Inspectorate, the Provincial Roads Unit, Cadastre Management, the State Reference Center for Dependent Persons, the State Reference Center for Care of Persons with Rare Diseases, the Douro Hydrographic Confederation, the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation, the Tax Administration Agency, among other services that the AGE provides to local entities and citizens.

The delegate stressed that the coordination with the municipalities has to be fluid to take advantage of the funds of PRTR, of the Spain Can Plan. “In those six years we will have the same funds as in the previous 34 years,” he said. Many of these funds will be in the hands of the mayors and hence the necessary cooperation so that these funds reach “all the municipalities”

In this regard, the meeting was 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 national, regional and provincial calls for PRTR aid that it may request. Tragsatec has four workers in each province who are coordinated by a group of four people at the regional level. A team to collaborate with commissions that are very useful, especially for those municipalities that already have grants from the DUS and the PIREP. “The objective is not to miss this opportunity, that the funds arrive and we can manage them in time and form,” Barcones stressed.

In Burgos, $9.6 million has been awarded for 44 proposals under the DUS 5000 Programme. The Pirep has distributed more than 2.4 million in eight projects. The Project Support Programme in Energy Transition Zones has financed or will finance nine projects worth more than 2.8 million euros. The Program of Tourist Sustainability Plans in Destination will distribute 4.2 million (1.8 for the Geopark of Las Loras and 2.4 for the proposal made by Diputación). In addition, the Provincial Council has also received 1,145,000 euros for the support of commercial activity in rural areas and the City of Villangómez, another 500,000 euros for this same purpose.

Likewise, for example, the provincial institution has received 841,132 euros for the Modernization and Digitalization of Local Administrations. Three other projects of Burgalese municipalities have benefited with 350,000 euros for territorial innovation and the reactivation of socio-economic activity and the fight against depopulation.

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.”

3.3 MILLION FROM THE STATE PACT

In meetings held in other provinces, many mayors have asked about the actions they can carry out with aid from the State Pact Against Gender Violence. From this aid, the province of Burgos has received 839,866 euros this year. Since 2018 and until this 2023, the municipalities of Burgos have reached 3,385,693 €. In the whole of Castilla y León there are 22.6 million.

The municipalities have the competence to carry out activities in the field of combating gender violence. The examples of events carried out in the Community 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 subsidies from the PRTR 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.

CITIZEN CARE

In total, about 34,000 public employees of the State serve in Castilla y León. Of that total, more than 5,085 are in Burgos, with a quality requirement that guarantees that practically all face-to-face consultations are attended in less than 10 minutes and telematics are answered in a maximum of 24 hours on business days.

The Government Subdelegation in Burgos offers a comprehensive Charter of Services to Citizens. It offers a Charter of electronic services aimed at making it easier for citizens to communicate with the Administration by electronic means. It can be done at any time and from anywhere in the province thanks to the investment in digital technology of recent years has provided new services that can be processed totally or partially electronically, at the click of a button, without the need to 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 route of the program ‘The Administration near you’, which the Government launched in November 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 the province of Burgos, 56 places where 1,420 certificates were made have been visited. During the month of November we visited Castrojeriz, Huerta del rey, Barbadillo del Pez, Quintanar de la Sierra, Torresandino and today we are visiting Palacios de la Sierra. “We are going to reach each and every one of the municipalities, we are going to reach each and every one of the neighbors who want the General Administration of the State to provide them with these digital competences that will make their lives easier,” said the delegate.

REDUCE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

The ‘Administration Close to You’ helps reduce 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.

This initiative of the Government of Spain 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, it should be noted that broadband will be a reality for all of Castilla y León in 2025 thanks to the Single Broadband Program. In those places where fiber has not yet arrived, the Rural Only program is a temporary solution to that 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 Burgos, 50 million euros will be invested so that internet and telephony, through the 5G Program, reach all points of the territory.