- The minister advances the reform of the EBEP and a final stabilization process to achieve the goal of reducing the public employment rate below 8%
- Iceta also announces that the Preliminary Draft Public Service Law will be presented in September to consolidate in the AGE the model of productive, effective and motivating public employment and develop the figure of professional public manager
- In May the strategy to reform access to public employment will be addressed, before the summer the Talent Acquisition Plan will be launched and in September the RD on teleworking will be approved
- Minister’s recognition of public servants and public management during the pandemic: “At the moment of truth, the only thing that separates us from disaster is the public”
The Minister of Territorial Policy and Public Service, Miquel Iceta, has stressed that the high temporality in the Public Service “is not acceptable and the Government is working to reduce it substantially”.
Iceta, who has appeared in the Senate Civil Service Commission, has indicated that the objective is to achieve a temporary rate of less than 8% in all public administrations: “My commitment is that before the summer, the autonomous communities, local authorities and unions will reach an agreement on all these issues,” he stressed.
Reduce temporality
Austerity policies, with several years of 0% restocking rate, have increased the problem. The PGEs for 2021 for the first time set the replacement rate at 100%, reaching in certain areas at 110-115%. The minister has also reiterated that the Public Employment Offer 2021 will be approved in June.
The temporality affects all administrations, although to a lesser extent the AGE, approximately 8%, but at the regional level sometimes it exceeds 30% and 13% in local entities.
“Cierta temporalidad es aceptable”, ha indicado Iceta, “pero no la temporalidad excesiva, que precariza el empleo”. In this sense, it will work with autonomous communities, local entities and unions to “reduce temporality, prevent future abuses and stabilize employment”
“We will reform the Basic Statute of the Public Employee (EBEP) so that it is mandatory for public administrations to fill, within a maximum period of three years, the places occupied by people without a fixed contract. The objective is to develop measures to prevent and punish temporary abuse and fraud, to place the emphasis on their exceptionality and to define their maximum duration,” he said.
On the other hand, he explained that the current stabilisation processes have extended the deadlines and announced a new final stabilisation process: “With the necessary respect for the constitutional principles of equality, merit and capacity in access to the public service, we will carry out the last process in which we will promote the stabilization on a fixed basis of the interim personnel who permanently perform functions of a structural type.”
Recognition of female servants and public servants
Iceta has praised the work of public servants and the importance of public management during the pandemic, “at the moment of truth, the only thing that separates us from the disaster is the public.”
He has acknowledged the work of health professionals during the pandemic, who are still dedicated to their work, now carrying out “the biggest vaccination campaign that has ever been launched in this country”. Recognition also for public servants in administrative services, social services, teachers, scientists, State Security Forces and Bodies, regional and local police, military, diplomatic, fire, international cooperation, immigration and asylum systems and technologies. “A government wide commitment to public servants and my intention to improve their working conditions, consolidate their jobs and increase their valuation.”
The minister also highlighted the democratic values that sustain our autonomous state, dialogue, negotiation and pact, co-governance in “a state of cooperation between administrations in which federal techniques are the best guide to solve problems”.
Civil Service Law
The Minister of Territorial Policy and Public Service, Miquel Iceta, has announced that in September he will take to the Council of Ministers the Preliminary Draft Law on Public Service of the State Administration.
Miquel Iceta, during his appearance in the Senate Civil Service Commission, said that the new law will consolidate “a model of professional, productive, effective and motivating public employment, in which public servants can fully develop their professional career throughout life.” A new aspect of the law will be the figure of the professional public manager, “a key element that will bring us closer to the most advanced public service models”, he added.
Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan
The European Recovery and Resilience Mechanism will materialize in Spain in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, to enhance economic recovery and adapt our production model to the requirements of the 21st century. The Plan consists of four transversal axes and ten lever policies. The fourth lever policy, the Administration of the 21st century, contemplates the necessary modernization of the Administration, so that it can be a driving force for young talent and promote digitalization and the strengthening of governance to advance the quality of all public services.
The Ministry of Territorial Policy and Public Function, the minister has detailed, will invest 1 billion euros, of which 970 will be managed by the autonomous communities and local entities and 30 by the Ministry.
He also referred to the role of the National Institute of Public Administration (INAP) in the modernization process, with actions for the improvement, decentralization and telematization of selective processes, digitalization of learning and training, including training for teleworking
Teleworking
“Teleworking is here to stay”, said the minister, and recalled the agreement he signed with the unions on April 12 with the general criteria for the development of teleworking, which will be regulated in a Royal Decree in September for its implementation in the AGE.
“A measure that, within the Strategy against the Demographic Challenge, has been highlighted by Iceta, “will provide solutions to areas in population decline and will allow the filling of vacancies in certain parts of the territory that are usually vacant.”
Gender Equality
The minister explained the progress of the III Plan for Gender Equality in the General Administration of the State, with measures for the first time of a transversal nature, applicable throughout the AGE. “The Ministry of Territorial Policy and Public Service will promote the implementation of the measures and, on one of them, I can tell you that the draft of the new protocol of action against sexual and gender-based harassment for the AGE is now ready, which we will soon negotiate with the unions,” he stressed.
Talent Acquisition Plan
After the reduction of the temporality and the development of the capacities of public employees, the third axis of reforms is oriented to the attraction of talent to public employment, mainly young talent.
The Public Service is working on a Talent Acquisition Plan, which will be presented before the summer, to promote the employment orientation of citizens towards the AGE. “A plan that was born with the vocation of making the Public Administration an attractive and real option for the new generations that join the labor market,” said the minister, who already last week participated in a Talent Acquisition Day at the Carlos III University of Madrid.
The minister has provided data that justify the need to incorporate young talent: in 10 years, 51% of the staff of the AGE will have retired, and barely 12% of the staff today are under 40 years old.
The minister has also set himself another objective: to rethink the selection mechanisms. “We look for all the profiles but the one that interests us the most is the one that has a real vocation of public service and, in addition, we need an access to the public service in which the capacity and aptitude are more taken into account and less the ability to memorize,” he said. He added that the feasibility of a system of aid aimed at applicants who have great difficulty in spending several years preparing an entrance exam will also be studied.
On the reform of the selection model, the minister has announced a debate next month: “In May we will present a Strategy to reform the model of access to public employment, open to debate and participation. The objective is to achieve a more agile and equitable entry into the public sector by guaranteeing the constitutional principles of equality, merit and capacity.”
Open Government
Iceta also referred to governance, and cited the IV Open Government Plan, “a joint commitment of administrations and civil society to transparency and integrity, which for the first time has proposals from the AGE, the autonomous communities and local entities.”
The Fourth Plan contains ten commitments, including the reform of the basic state regulations on incompatibilities and the regulation of lobbyists.
Iceta has also referred to the Anti-Transfuguism Pact, recovered after ten years without being convened, and which will be extended to all public administrations.
The minister ended by reiterating what he said several times during his speech: “We are going to dialogue, negotiate and agree because it is the essence of this Ministry. We will talk to public servants, trade unions, local authorities and autonomous communities, which provide services as relevant as health and education.”