In its first year ‘La Administración cerca de ti’ has assisted 3,600 small municipalities, served 40,000 people and issued more than 30,000 digital certificates

• Ángel Víctor Torres stressed that in this first meeting, “experiences have been shared, such as bringing the Administration closer to the citizens, and the reforms undertaken have been explained as more digitalization to update the register and the Law of Bases of Local Regime, and he has stressed that the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory will always be next to all territories”

December 27, 2023.- The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory has highlighted that after his first meeting with the delegates of the Government in the autonomous communities and cities that have shared recent developments and reforms, such as "bringing the Administration closer to the citizens in the smaller towns, more digitalization to update in real time the census or the reform of the Law of Bases of Local Regime. A productive meeting, in addition, the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory will always be next to the territories, communities and autonomous cities of our country.”

Strategic lines
The minister has described the work carried out in the last four years as “excellent”: the approval in December 2020 of the Strategic Plan for the improvement of the services of the General Administration of the State (AGE) in the Territory, with its 40 measures in coordination, the improvement of human and organizational resources, digitalization, image and special intervention in sensitive areas such as foreigners, has laid the foundations to put in place a new Plan, “whose strategic lines must pivot in the ‘Attention to Citizenship’, the ‘Improvement of efficiency’ in the use of human resources and the ‘Institutional Visibility’, in addition to continue to promote the Ministry,

The minister highlighted during the meeting the ‘Attention to Citizenship’, which he considers “should be the center and guide of our strategy, because the government delegations are due to the citizens and, as responsible for the coordination and direction of the AGE in the territory, we must ensure that at any point in the country the attention is quality, fast, effective and that the AGE is accessible, close and inclusive”.

“The Administration Near You”
The Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory will continue to work to consolidate “The Administration near you”, as a service of proximity to serve a part of the citizenry at risk of exclusion by residing in small population centers. During the first year, more than 3,600 municipalities with less than 8,000 inhabitants have been visited, 40,000 people have been served and more than 30,000 digital certificates have been issued to provide the inhabitants of these municipalities with access to e-government.

Efficiency improvement
To ensure better attention to citizens, the minister highlighted another strategic objective, ‘Improving efficiency’, and recalled that “in the last decade government delegations have suffered a loss of human resources that, fortunately, is being overcome: “In 2022 we have already seen for the first time an increase in the number of troops,” and he stressed that, currently, “we have the best staffing in recent years thanks to an exhaustive analysis of the situation and a constant search for greater efficiency in our public services.”

In this sense, he said that “we are prepared for the important change that it represents, within the framework of the Management by Objectives model initiated in 2022, to implement a productivity complement by objectives that allows to attract talent, improve efficiency and, ultimately, provide the best service to citizens”.

“The commitment to this model is a challenge that we rigorously assume because, beyond the systems of this type already operating in some public bodies, we are going to be pioneers in implementing a model in accordance with the administration of the 21st century, which positions strategies, establishes indicators, measures results and also rewards,” he explained.

The minister has stressed that progress will be made in new organizational models, such as the relocation of management, an area in which there are successful models, among others, in the Immigration Offices, in the processing of aid for damages caused by the volcano of La Palma or in the documentary controls of the Border Inspection Posts.

Institutional visibility
Ángel Víctor Torres has also marked ‘Institutional Visibility’ as a strategic axis: “The AGE must be efficient, but also visible and recognizable in the institutional framework of our country. We are an always open door and we need a homogeneous image throughout the territory and with a powerful communication that reflects our permanent, accessible, inclusive, sustainable, transparent and open attention.”

The Minister has also contributed to the coordination of government action and collaboration with territorial administrations: “From the Ministry we will spare no effort to make visible the essential role you play to guarantee the unity of action of the Government in the territory and your daily work is key to facilitate dialogue with the different public administrations.”

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