Implement citizen assessment process to improve public service delivery (AL0069)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? Since 2013, the Government of Albania has looked to reinvent public service delivery so as to better meet the needs of citizens, improve citizen satisfaction and improve accessibility to marginalized groups. The Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services Albania (ADISA) is the institution behind the front office – back office separation in Albania’s public administration. It serves both as the “brain” behind the citizen-centric services and the “face” of those services. It is the brain that sets the standard design for and monitors the services across all relevant Government offices. It is also the public face of the services, which means that it establishes and manages customer care service windows in the ADISA Centers. In the Integrated Public Service Centers (ISCs), ADISA provides front of office services for a number of central Government institutions, acting as a ‘one stop shop’ for public services that expands citizens and businesses’ fast, easy, and transparent access to public services. Queue management, welcoming premises where citizens are treated with respect, a complaint management system, and simplified procedures in service windows are some of the standards at each ADISA Center. Centers are also equipped with clear directions, parking facilities, waiting areas, children’s playrooms, and ramps for people with disabilities. Of the 2500 Albanians surveyed in the 2019 Trust in Governance Opinion Poll just 23.9% had visited an ADISA service window in 2019, but of those who did 70% were satisfied or very satisfied with the service delivery. In particular, of those aged 65 and older who had visited an ADISA service window 78.2% were satisfied or very satisfied with the service delivery. As such, there is a need to increase accessibility of high quality public service delivery, particularly to marginalized and vulnerable groups and in areas where public services are lacking. As citizen satisfaction with public service delivery has been shown to be positively correlated with citizen trust in government and governance, in aiming to improve public service delivery ensuring the continuation and strengthening of efforts to gain and build this trust will be crucial. Increasing the opportunities for citizens to provide feedback on their public service delivery needs and challenges and integrating these into solutions will be necessary in order to increase accessibility of public services for all Albanians, but especially those from marginalized and vulnerable groups. Commitments |Digital Governance: Accessibility in Public Services| Commitment 5

What is the commitment? The functioning of ISCs and other service channels would not be complete without rigorous performance monitoring and assessment to help identify ways to constantly improve the activity of ISCs/service channels against objectives and targets. This commitment establishes an inclusive strategy for the assessment of the quality and accessibility of public service delivery at ADISA ISCs that is centered on listening to the needs of citizens. It provides multiple opportunities and platforms for citizens to express their needs, opinions, circumstances and feedback and commits to a transparent process of incorporating citizen contributions towards improved public service delivery quality and accessibility. As such this commitment will entail carrying out citizen surveys to monitor citizen satisfaction with public service delivery and the timeliness of these services, as well as focus groups. The results of these surveys and consultations will be integrated into performance monitoring assessments in order to identify ways to improve service delivery at ISCs and in general. Objective: ADISA’s performance assessment of service channels aims at improving public service delivery to citizens, its accessibility and increasing the overall satisfaction of service users.By monitoring the quality of public service delivery at ISCs through on-going citizen satisfaction assessment mechanisms this commitment aims to improve public service by listening directly to the needs of citizens in order to increase accessibility of quality public service delivery. Expected results: • Ensuring ISCs are accessible for all citizens including marginalized and vulnerable groups; • Varied mechanisms for continuous feedback from citizens on public service delivery that ensure all voices can be heard; • Improved service delivery that reflects needs of citizens; • Reduced application time at ADISA ISC; • Increased accountability of public service providers; • Increased citizen satisfaction; • Increased public trust that citizens’ needs are heard and addressed.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? Improving the quality of public service delivery means taking account of the public service delivery needs of all citizens and incorporating those needs into tangible actions. This increased accessibility is only possible when public service providers offer citizens the opportunity to contribute to these changes. This commitment establishes mechanisms for continuous feedback from citizens. Through citizen surveys of both citizen satisfaction with ISCs (milestone 1) and timeliness of the application processes at ISCs (milestone 2) citizens will be encouraged to provide honest feedback. The surveys will aim to identify strengths and weaknesses; set further objectives for improving the quality of service delivery; measure citizen satisfaction with information points, reception, accommodation, the application process; and feedback on improvements made by ADISA in ISCs. The results of which will provide public service providers with an overview of areas of strength and weakness in public service delivery. Focus groups will provide the opportunity for a greater depth of understanding of citizens’ specific needs and provide insights into potential areas for improvement, particularly from those from minority groups (milestone 3). These feedback mechanisms will be part of a transparent assessment process that will include the publication of feedback and the inclusion of feedback into strategies for improvement. Maintaining an electronic record of feedback through an online database traceability and tracking of feedback results will support accountability to addressing citizens’ needs and provide a means of measuring improvement over time. Finally, increased inclusivity will be a priority of the commitment and will underpin the feedback mechanisms to ensure all voices are provided the opportunity to be listened to and heard. Special attention will be paid to improving the accessibility of public services to meet the needs of marginalized and vulnerable groups and to ensure their inclusion in the public service delivery process (milestone 4). OGP challenge affected by this measures Improve public services Increase efficient management of public resources Increase public integrity Increase corporat e accountability Create a safer community for citizens & civil society ☒ ☒ ☒ ☐ ☒

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? Transparency & Access to Information • Does the ide a disclose more information to the public? • Does the ide a improve the quality of information disclosed to the public? • Does the ide a improve accessibility of information to the public? • Does the ide a e nable the right to information? ☒Y es ☐N o The citizen surv ey s and focu s gr oups will be part of a transparent on -going assessment pr ocess of public serv ice deliv ery. In particular this commitment will inv olv e: • Pu blication of results from cit izen surv ey s will prov ide transparency on performance of public serv ice deliv ery . • Standardized pr ocesses to en sure the integration of citizen feedback. • Citizen identities made anonymou s so a s to pr otect citizen s’ right to priv acy . • Pu blication of strategies dev eloped towards the improv ement of public serv ice deliv ery and made av ailable for public comment. Public Accountability • Does the ide a cre ate or improve rules, regulations, and mechanisms to publicly hold government officials answerable to the ir actions? • Does the ide a make the government accountable to the public and not solely to inte rnal syste ms? ☒Y es ☐N o Tracking citizen satisfaction in consistent & standardized pr ocesses facilitates accountability of th ose in stitutions & agencies deliv ery those public serv ices by making them more an swerable to their objectiv es and towards improv ing their deliv ery. Specifically this commitment will create: • Opportunities for citizen feedback pr omote accountability of public serv ice deliv ery. • Feedback mechanisms – surv ey s, focus groups – will be conducted on an on -going ba sis to pr omote. • Maintenance of an electr onic record of feedback through online database traceability and standardized processes for tracking of feedback results will support accountability to addressing cit izen s’ needs and pr ov ide a means of measuring improv ement ov er time. Public & Civic • Does the ide a cre ate or improve opportunities, or capabilities for the public to inform or influe nce de cisions? Participation • Does the ide a cre ate or improve the e nabling e nvironme nt for civil socie ty? ☒Y es ☐N o In order to increase public and civ ic participation, A DISA has alway s been engaged with civ il society by organizing focus groups and also including marginalized groups to accept and incorporate ev ery one’s needs. In this form it is possible to improv e the opportunities for the public to inform or ev en to influence decisions. This commitment: • Pr ov ides sev eral different ty pes of opportunities for citizens to pr ov ide feedback on public serv ice deliv ery . • Feedback mechanisms – surv ey s, focus groups – will be conducted on an on -going ba sis to pr ov ide citizens with on-g oing opportunities to contribute feedback and idea s. • Focus groups will enable opportunities for citizen s to pr ov ide in -depth feedback, idea s and contributions. • Focus groups will pr omote inclusiv ity of participation and will ensure the v oices of marginalized and v ulnerable groups are included and heard in order to make public serv ice deliv ery more accessible; • Citizen feedback will be incorporated into improv ement strategies. • Strategies will be published online and available for public comment and contribution. Technology & Innovation • Will te chnological innovation be used in with one of the other three OGP values to advance participation, transpare ncy or accountability? ☒Y es ☐N o The use of electronic platforms and online resources will help en sure transparency of processes, public accountability towards improv ing public serv ice deliv ery and enabling civ ic engagement and participation through: • Electr onic sy stems enable legitimate citizen feedback sy stems and increa se accessibility for all cit izen s. • Online platforms and electr onic databases en sure traceability and tracking of surv ey results. • Electr onic databases of surv ey results will facilitate public accountability by prov iding a clear mechanism to track agencies pr ogress in addressing citizen s’ concerns, making them more answerable.

Milestone Activities Milestones Indicators Responsible Institution / s New or Continued Idea Timeframe Measurable & verifiable achievements to accomplish this objective Result Indicators Output Indicators Lead Responsible Institution Supporting / Coordinating Agencies / Institutions New or continued from 2018- 2020 OGP AP Start Date End Dat e Priority Measure 1: Improving the quality of public service delivery in ADISA Integrated Services Centers (ISC’s) and service counters Milestone 1: Conducting citizen satisfaction surv ey s at A DISA ISC’s Improved service delivery that reflects needs of ci tizens; Increased Publication of ci tizen feedback results reports; Citizen feedback incorporated into strategies for improvement; Mechanism for Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services Albania (A DISA ) Prime Minister’s Office ☐N o ☒Y es Public Services Jan. 2020 Dec. 2022 accountability of pu blic service providers; continu ous feedback from citizens on pu blic service delivery; Online platforms and electronic databases ensure traceability and tracking of feedback results. Milestone 2: Conducting surv ey s to measure the application time at ADISA ISC’s. Reduce application time at A DISA ISC A DISA Prime Minister’s Office ☐N o ☒Y es Public Services Jan. 2020 Dec. 2022 Milestone 3: Focus groups to identify the needs and areas of improv ement Increased ci tizen satisfaction & pu blic trust that ci tizen needs heard & addressed. A DISA Prime Minister’s Office ☐N o ☒Y es Public Services Jan. 2020 Dec. 2022 Milestone 4: Increa sing accessibility in A DISA ISC to include in the public serv ice deliv ery process marginalized and vulnerable gr oups Being inclusive in the pu blic service delivery process A DISA Prime Minister’s Office ☐N o ☒Y es Public Services Jan. 2020 Dec. 2022

Action Plan Review

Commitment #5: Improving the quality of public service delivery at integrated service centres and service counters

●      Verifiable: Yes

●      Does it have an open government lens? Yes

●      Potential for results: Unclear

Results Report

Commitment 5. Improving the quality of public service delivery at integrated service centers and service counters

• Verifiable: Yes

• Does it have an open government lens? Yes

• Potential for results: Unclear

• Completion: Substantial

• Did it open government? No early results to report yet

This commitment aimed to improve the quality of public service delivery by the Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services Albania (ADISA) especially for marginalized and vulnerable groups. For context, a nationwide survey by the Institute for Development Research and Alternatives (IDRA) prior to commitment implementation found that accessibility of public services had increased from 42% in 2016 to 65% in 2020. [65]

The government has provided evidence to the IRM of general citizen satisfaction surveys at local ADISA centers as well as of waiting times at the centers and on the telephone (milestones 1 and 2). [66] The government provided evidence of two stakeholder meetings which were the same meetings as those conducted during the co-creation process in the development of the commitment, while the government self-assessment states that other focus group meetings were conducted. [67] A 2021 poll on trust in government by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) showed that more citizens visited ADISA service centers in 2021 (36.9%) than in 2020 (29.4%) as well as an increased satisfaction level from 73% in 2020 to 76.9% in 2021. [68] Throughout the action plan cycle, ADISA reported they provided assistance for 354,080 citizens to access public services.

Before the switch to online services in May 2022, citizens could apply for services on e-Albania at ADISA integrated service centers. However, the EC noted there were issues with service delivery amid rapid digitalization while citizens at the local level remained with limited access. [69] The Commission underlined additional resources are needed to reduce barriers—such as digital literacy gaps and accessibility features, especially for marginalized and vulnerable populations. [70] As such, it is unclear if the aim of this commitment was achieved.