The establishment of Administrative Service Centres (ASC) in municipalities is not only required by the laws of Ukraine, but also by today’s realities. After all, in addition to improving the administrative services provided to the public, an ASC enables a more efficient organisation of the activities of local self-government officials.
“Powers and Step-by-Step Procedures of Local Self-Government When Creating Administrative Service Centres” was the topic of a dialogue meeting held for the officials of village and settlement councils by the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Rivne Oblast together with the Rivne Regional State Administration.
The event took place in the Varkovychi Village Council. According to the head of the village, Yurii Parfeniuk, having limited resources has not prevented this municipality from opening a modern Administrative Service Centre.
“The event brought together heads and officials from 15 village and settlement councils of the Rivne Oblast, which still lack an Administrative Service Centre. On the one hand, the legislation has no set deadlines for these local self-government bodies to open these Centres, as there is no state financial support for this. On the other hand, however, this model of providing administrative services in local self-government has proven its effectiveness and convenience, so it should be introduced in all municipalities as soon as possible,” said Ruslan Syvyi, Head of the Regional Office.
Representing the regional executive authorities, Oleksandr Tereshchenko, Deputy Head of the Rivne Regional State Administration for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalisation (CDTO), and Halyna Daniuk, Deputy Director and Head of the Digital Transformation Office of the Department of Digital Transformation and Public Communications of Rivne Regional State Administration, explained to the participants the importance of creating an ASC in each municipality and the powers of the local self-government in this area. They reaffirmed that the Rivne Regional State Administration is ready to provide custom help to each municipality in the development of administrative services.
To show the municipalities how an Administrative Service Centre operates and to share their own experience, the event invited Yuliia Pshenychna, Head of the Administrative Service Centre Department of the Varkovychi Village Council, and Oksana Kuliasha, Head of the Department for the Arrangement of Administrative Services of Shpaniv Village Council. They presented two different models of providing administrative services: a separate executive body and a working body.
The participants were able to ask the speakers about the specific aspects of providing administrative services according to various models and to talk about their own developments in launching ASCs.
“High-quality administrative services are about the capacity of the municipality. That is why we should study the best practices of municipalities that are ahead of the curve and choose a model of the operation of the Administrative Service Centre that is best suited to the local situation. In any case, everyone needs to create an ASC. Earlier, U-LEAD helped local self-government bodies that volunteered to create ASCs by purchasing equipment and furniture for them. As of now, the financial resources are allocated to municipalities that need recovery, and municipalities in the rear are offered training and consulting for their officials,” said Ruslan Syvyi.
According to him, the meeting resulted in an agreement between the participants on further communication between themselves and seeking options for opening new ASCs in order to improve administrative services in every municipality of the Rivne Oblast to the greatest extent possible.
