End of Commitment Report – Promote social participation to improve public services

Name of Evaluator

Monique Portella

Email

monique.portella@tcesc.tc.br

Member Name

Santa Catarina, Brazil

Action PlanAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... Title

Action plan – Santa Catarina, Brazil, 2021 – 2022

CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action...

Promote social participation to improve public services through the institution of a user’s council, creating a technological tool for public services evaluation, and the system improvement of ombudsman and access to information.

Action

The commitment seeks to improve the public administration services  by promoting social participation. To this end, it is proposed to establish the users’ council as an appropriate forum to promote the active participation of organized society in the construction, implementation and evaluation of public services offered by the State Government. To reinforce the participation, the commitment also involves the implementation of a collaborative technological tool for service evaluation. Additionally, the adoption of a new system of ombudsman and access to information aims to be a direct communication channel between the citizen and the government, with easy access to users, society, and public servants, to receive, classify, forward, monitor, and respond the citizens’ requests, complaints, suggestions, compliments, complaints, and requests for information regarding the state public service.

Problem

The executive branch provides many different services to the people. However, one issue to be solved is the lack of alignment between citizen’s real needs and the service delivered, which happens because there is low user participation in the service monitoring, evaluation, and improvements proposition. In the same way, there is limited social participation in the service of ombudsman and access to information. The technological tool is outdated and without evolutionary maintenance, it’s interface makes usability difficult for citizens, does not provide reports for managers and citizens, and also doesn’t evaluate user satisfaction.

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitment implementation at the time of this assessment?

substantial

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

I understand that the finished and in progress milestones represent an advance within the commitment evaluated, so considering that confronting planned and accomplished, the majority of the milestones are finished, it is considered a substantial accomplishment.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer:

Compromisso 3 – Evidencia-1.1.

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

As an external factor, due to the electoral year and its legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r..., the government’s communication channels were restricted, preventing events for public servants and society about the commitment’s results, such as the ranking referred to in the Public Service User Defense Code

An internal factor that determined the non-delivery of actions related to the new Ouvidoria system and access to information, was the lack of prior analysis of feasibility on how to implement the system of ombudsman of the state of Ceará, in Santa Catarina.

This problem was approached with the creation of a Commission composed by multidisciplinary servants to analyze other technological tools and work methodologies used in other states, including technical visits to the states of Ceará, Espírito Santo and Paraná. The team that works directly with the actual system decided to hire a specialized company in order to develop a new Informatic System of Ombudsman and Access to Information. Thus, the necessary bidding procedures were initiated according to the process information at the following report:
https://dados.sc.gov.br/dataset/e691c2fd-6b36-46cc-96c1-ca8c8b91b2f7/resource/61f7e986-cadd-4e87-9aa7-3f365089f39b/download/relatorio-sistema-de-ouvidoria-oge.pdf

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

few of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Considering that: the finished milestones were largely implemented as planned; those that are in progress are not in accordance with what was planned (due to schedule change, for example); and the not started milestones, there is no way to do any kind of analysis; it is considered that only some of the actions were implemented as planned.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Compromisso 3 – Evidencia 1.3.

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

It is understood that the finished milestones greatly contribute to the possibility of society’s participation in social accountabilityTransparency of public service delivery is not enough on its own; giving citizens opportunities to monitor progress on the ground and hold their governments accountable improves the quality of these s..., however there is much to advance, making necessary the continuity of this process.
We can notice the progress in the information disclosed by the government, also to the way the content is presented. Another good practice is to disclose the ranking provided for the user’s defense code, through a consolidated panel of evaluations, considering different indicators, enabling the evaluation of public management. It is also possible to talk about the methodology of evaluation of public services, which was also disclosed, enabling the improvement of public service, seeking the appropriate return to society.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Compromisso 3 – Evidencia 2.1.1.

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

Considering the actions carried out so far it is safe to say that the evolution is clear and an example can be the satisfaction survey, resulting from the action called “Developing a Methodology of public services Evaluation, including basic criteria, Evaluation Cycles, and feedback for Improvement and Evaluation ranking” bringing the possibility of citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More.

Still speaking about citizen participation in the process, in addition to the possibility of interaction with managers, it is possible to bring the action of “Establish the public services users council set in Federal Law 13.460, from 2017”

Finally, another example of progress that can be shared is the development and publication of methodology for evaluating public services, including basic evaluation criteria, evaluation cycles and feedback for improving the evaluation ranking; it can serve as a tool for monitoring digital services and quality standards based on citizen evaluations.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Compromisso 3 – Evidencia 2.1.2.

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

Not Applicable

2.1.4 Other Results

Not Applicable

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

This commitment is fundamental for the improvement of public management and society performance in the public policy process, but it is understood that commitment should be the beginning of a continuous process, in order to improve the government and its deliveries to society.