The Minister of Public Administration and Justice spoke about the process of institutional restructuring in public administration and a change in perspective on the workforce at a staff forum in the Veszprém County Government Office. Dr. Tibor Navracsics also said that allegations of politically-inspired mass dismissals are not true.

In connection with the positive reorganisation of state administration, he emphasised that the state is a reference point which affects every area of life. The Deputy Prime Minister visited the Veszprém Government contact centre – which has been operating since 1 January – together with Dr. Zoltán Kovács, Governmental Commissioner for Veszprém County.

At the staff forum for government office staff and directors, Dr. Navracsics said that it was clear to all that the public administration system which emerged in the 1980s and 1990s – with its opaque network of decentralised bodies – has become unworkable. He added that the measures brought in by the Gyurcsány government aimed at forming a region system and reorganising state administration have not answered this question at either an institutional or personal level: the former in practice deprived citizens of places to settle their affairs (making the process difficult and slow), and the latter politicised public administration with the suspension of the post of minister of state for public administration and the induction of specialist ministers of state.

Dr. Navracsics said that planned public administration reform began at state administration level last year, and at local government level from January this year. He went on to say that there were plans for the formation of around two hundred districts at subregional level in 2013, and that the reason for governmental commissioners and director-generals leading government offices is to draw a clear dividing line between the level at which there is acceptance of political responsibility and the level of specialist, professional direction.

With regard to personnel policy, the Minister said that allegations of politically-inspired mass dismissals are not true; he reminded his audience that from the enactment of the statute on the legal status of government officials on 6 July until 31 December, only 424 ministerial employees had lost their jobs across all eight ministries. He called attention to the fact that under former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány’s first cabinet, more than 10,000 ministerial workers had been dismissed.

He mentioned that already in August last year he asked the trade unions that if complaints of politically-inspired dismissals came to them from ministries and support institutions, they should notify him, and he would set up an inquiry to look into the matter. He said that to date not a single request has arrived.

Speaking of the changes, Dr. Navracsics reiterated that workers in the public sphere are expected to produce a higher quality of work than those in other walks of life. He emphasised that the state is a reference point, the operation of which affects the quality of life in every area of society. He said that if in a state institution there is no order or discipline and there is obvious neglect, the country’s citizens will see no reason to strive for quality in what they do either.

He added that order, awareness, respect for others, high-quality work and a sense of mission must be basic requirements for workers in state institutions, because the country’s other citizens look to the state for an example.

Referring to the difficulties in setting up the service, Zoltán Kovács, Director of the Veszprém County Government Office, said at the staff forum in the government contact centre that it was not easy to coordinate the diverse activities of the integrated organisations. He emphasised, however, that so far in Veszprém alone more than one thousand members of the public had visited government contact centres providing this wide range of services. He said that the service to the public provided after five in the afternoon was being used ever more intensively. He emphasised that this is a rarity in public services, creating more customer-friendly service than ever, and also increasing the satisfaction of clients, citizens and the people of Veszprém.

(kormany.hu)