The conference "Reform and public control in the provision of administrative services in Ukraine" was organized by the UMDPL Association jointly with the Center for Political and Legal Reforms. Ivan Sikora, Director of the "Open Society" Foundation, presented the results of a comparative study of the Centres for administrative services provision in Desna district of Kyiv and the city of Chernihiv.
According to Ivan Sikora, it is extremely important to enhance the quality of public services, but also reduce their cost. In his presentation Sikora answered what determines the effectiveness of the CASP in Kyiv and Chernihiv.
Interestingly, both CASPs serve the same number of people, have almost the same number of employees and occupy the same space. However, the results of their work differ significantly. Kyiv CASP provides a much smaller range of services than the one in Chernihiv. At the same time Kyiv office attracts more visitors.
The starting positions
The comparative analysis was based on the 2013 results of the Kyiv and Chernihiv CASP activities. Both Centers operate since 2012 with a difference of almost 6 months and serve the same number if inhabitants (just over 300 thousand each). It is significant that both offices occupy almost the same area of 765 m2 in Kyiv and 780 m2 in Chernihiv.
Kyiv CASP provides 69 services on 19 subjects of administrative services. In Chernihiv 92 services are being provided on 32 subjects (as of November last year the list of administrative services expanded to 157). At the same time both CASPs have almost the same number of employees (11 and 12 people respectively). The number of working days and hours are not too different. But the number of visitors truly takes by surprise. Since Chernihiv CASP provides significantly more services (more than 2 times compared to Kyiv), the number of visitors should be proportionally greater. Nevertheless, the analysis suggests the opposite.
Why does the number of visitors differ by 2.5 times?
More than 127 000 subjects visited Desna district of Kyiv CASP (including those applying for the receipt of the results of the services or for an advice). In Chernihiv the result was much more modest. In 2013 Chernihiv CASP had received a little over 52 000 applications.
Simple division by 6 working days a week gives 440 subjects per day in Kyiv and 180 in Chernihiv. The difference is almost 2.5 times more. Despite the fact that the office size and the number of employees is approximately the same and in Chernihiv CASP provides greater number of services (almost 2.3 times more - 157 in Chernihiv to 69 services Kyiv). What could cause such differences?
It should be noted that during the first 6 months of operation Chernihiv CASP received 35 addresses per day. Chernihiv results of the 1st quarter of 2013 compared to the first half a year look impressive. The number of visitors in 2013 has increased more than 5 times as compared with the initial results. Introducing registration services (especially associated with individual entrepreneurs), services of the State Migration Service (issue of Ukrainian passports to persons who have reached the age of 16), launch the official CASP website www.admincher.com.ua, and probably the criticism in the media, which took place in June - July 2013 had significantly contributed to the increase of results. However, comparing the results of Kyiv and Chernihiv CASPS suggests there is still a great potential of increasing the number of services provided.
According to Ivan Sikora, despite the fact that Chernihiv CASP provides a comprehensive list of administrative services, those of Department of Labor and Social Security are still lacking and provided separately. Analysis of Kyiv office suggests social services (subsidies, state aid), although provided to a limited extent, are of a high demand. Also it would be good to expand the list of services with those of the Department of Land Agency in Chernihiv oblast, due to the significant terms of the provision of these services and the high risks of corruption in services related to land issues. The efforts to increase the number of services provided by the State Migration Service could be more active, namely, the time of passport provision in CASP. Provision of passports for travel abroad should also be introduced, considering the positive experience of Kyiv CASP.
According to the Director of the "Open Society" Foundation "there is a need to develop a unified policy with a clear indication of the range of services that the consumer can receive in each CASP. Such an approach will help improving the efficiency of public spending and ensure the most effective use of staff and resources empowered with significant funds during the administrative reform. We need to compare various CASPs, identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and obstacles to improve the quality of services and reduce their cost to the budget". Victor Tymoshchuk, vice-chairman of the Center for Political and Legal Reforms and well-known expert on public administration, who was chairing the conference, noted the importance of such research approach to improve the work of CASPs.
The idea behind the introduction of CASPs as a form of public provision of administrative services was to create conditions under which taxpayers are residents of that particular area could obtain all necessary public services all in one place, in a simple manner, in due time, without unnecessary interference and corruption component in a comfortable environment.
It is important that Chernihiv CASP management is aware of room for growth. It is symbolic that just as Desna district of Kyiv, Chernihiv is also located Desna River. Kyiv has some positive experience which should be adopted and further developed in Chernihiv.
The research results were delivered on April 17, 2014 by Ivan Sikora, Director of the «Open Society» Foundation (www.osf.org.ua) in his presentation "Comparative analysis of CASPs in different regions of Ukraine" at the conference " Reform and public control in the provision of administrative services in Ukraine" held in Kyiv. Conference was organized by the Association of Association of Ukrainian Human Rights Monitors on Law Enforcement (UMDPL Association) in cooperation with the Centre for Political and Legal Reforms in partnership with the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner’s for Human Rights Secretariat and with the financial assistance of the European Union.
