Public Service Satisfaction Surveys (RS0064)

Brief description of the Commitment

The commitment implies the introduction of a system for measuring user satisfaction with the services provided within the existing one-stop shops (OSSs), established at LSUs by the end of 2023. By implementing this commitment, it will be possible for service users in each of the opened OSSs to have the appropriate IT devices (tablet computers) at their disposal via which they could evaluate the quality of the provided services or possibly submit their complaints in electronic form. All entered evaluations/complaints would be forwarded directly (in real time) to the appropriate mechanism (center) established within MPALSG, which would process the received data and coordinate the action of the competent authorities upon the received complaints, as well as provide feedback to users. In the said way, it will be possible for citizens and business entities, as service users, to express their views about the quality of services provided to them within the OSS, which was previously not the case. At the same time, the information necessary for the further development of both specific services and the Service Provision Policy itself will be collected, based on the data and direct user experience "from the field", which was also not a practice until now.

Problem Definition

1. What problem does the commitment aim to address? The Republic of Serbia is implementing continuous reforms in an effort to modernize its public administration and transform it from a "regulator" into a service for citizens. To this end, significant results have been achieved in recent years, both with regard to the introduction of a single Service Provision Policy, as well as when it comes to improving the process itself and the quality of services provided by the administration bodies. In other words, the provision of services to citizens and business entities is continuously improved by simplifying and digitizing the existing physical services, but also by constantly developing new electronic services. The progress made has been recognized by the relevant international actors who follow the Public Administration Reform process, and thus, for example, the latest SIGMA/OECD Report from 2021 recognizes the Republic of Serbia as a regional leader in the subject area, noting continuous progress (with 2 index points in 2017, over 3 index points in 2019, and up to 3.5 index points in 2021).77 An important measure in the direction of creating an "administration tailored to citizens", based, among other things, on the quality and efficient provision of public services, is the process of establishing one-stop shops (OSSs,) at LSUs, which has been continuously implemented since in 2018. The legal framework for the simplification of administrative procedures was established by the Law on General Administrative Procedure ("Official Gazette of the RS", No. 18/16, 95/18-authentic interpretation, 2/23-CC), which for the first time introduced the term "one-stop shop" – where the parties can economically, in one place, exercise their rights, obligations and legal interests, receive more information and services, whether such place exists electronically (e.g. eGovernment Portal) or as a physical place. The said law highlights the obligation to exchange data from official records between the administrative bodies, as one of important conditions for implementing the principles of cost- efficiency and effectiveness of public administration and turning it into a real service for citizens. The emphasis was placed on data exchange, and not on the exchange of documents of administrative bodies. Article 42 of the Law defines OSSs as follows: "if the exercise of rights requires the action of one or more authorities, the party to the procedure shall address the one- stop shop". Bearing in mind the above, OSSs perform threefold tasks, namely: they instruct users on the necessary steps for the authorities to act upon the requests, receive user submissions and forward them to the competent authorities, and inform the users about the measures undertaken and acts issued by the competent authority. With the support of MPALSG, from 2018 until the moment this obligation was defined, a total of 41 OSSs have been opened at LSUs, while 14 new ones shall be opened by the end of 2023, which will cover about a third of all LSUs in the Republic of Serbia (55 out of a total of 174). Although the establishment of OSSs had facilitated and improved the process of providing certain services in selected LSUs, there is a lack of feedback from the users of the services provided. More precisely, no system has been developed which would allow users (citizens and business entities) to evaluate the quality of services provided within the OSSs or to file a complaint in case of their dissatisfaction. Such a system, i.e. the collected views of users, represent a very important element and a starting point for further improving the quality of existing services, but also for recognizing needs in the development of new ones. 2. What are the causes of the problem? Although reform activities in the domain of providing public administration services have been undertaken almost a decade ago, a comprehensive Service Provision Policy, which, among other things, should result in the development of methodologies and the establishment of measuring user satisfaction with the services provided, has only recently been introduced. This was done by adopting the new Public Administration Reform Strategy in the Republic of Serbia for 2021-2030 (Specific Objective 5), the implementation of which aims to build a public administration that efficiently and in an innovative manner provides services that meet the needs of end users and improve their user experience.78 Given that the Service Provision Policy is relatively new, as well as that there were not enough capacities (human and financial resources) in the previous period, system solutions regarding the measurement of user satisfaction with the public services provided have not yet been defined, and therefore no such measurement has been established in respect of OSSs either.

Commitment Description

1. What has been done so far to solve the problem? As was previously stated, not only does the Public Administration Reform Strategy in the Republic of Serbia for 2021-2030 introduce a single Service Provision Policy, but also defines as a priority the further improvement of the quality of service provision by the public administration based on user experience. What's more, the accompanying Action Plan for 2021-2025 foresees concrete activities in the direction of establishing a methodology and systematic measurement of end users' satisfaction with all provided public administration services, and not only with those provided within the framework of OSSs.79 Accordingly, with the support of GIZ and SIGMA, several studies (analyses) with recommendations for the further development of the Service Provision Policy have been prepared so far, which, among other things, deal with issues related to the establishment of a system for measuring user satisfaction, as well as with further development of OSSs. In this direction, at the proposal of MPALSG, the Government had adopted the Decree on the detailed conditions, criteria and benchmarks for establishing one-stop shops, as well as on the manner of cooperation between the competent authorities in connection with the conduct and performance of work at one-stop shops ("Official Gazette of the RS", No. 93/23) in October 2023, which defines the conditions, criteria and benchmarks that are applied in the procedure of establishing the OSS, as a single contact point, for the cooperation between the competent authorities regarding the handling and performance of tasks at the OSSs. Article 7 of the Decree prescribes the examination of user satisfaction with the services provided within the OSS, through questionnaires at the OSS premises, online questionnaires or citizen surveys.

2. What solution are you proposing? The commitment implies the introduction of a system for measuring user satisfaction with the services provided within the existing OSSs, established at LSUs by the end of 2023. The system would function by providing the appropriate IT devices (tablet computers) in each of the opened OSSs to the service users, via which they could evaluate the quality of the provided services or possibly submit their complaints in electronic form. All entered evaluations/complaints would be forwarded directly (in real time) to the appropriate mechanism (center) established within MPALSG, which would process the received data and coordinate the action of the competent authorities upon the received complaints, as well as provide feedback to users. In order to implement the proposed solution, the implementation of the commitment would include:  development of a methodology for measuring user satisfaction with the services provided within the OSSs, which, among other things, would define the methods of collecting and processing the collected data, responding and providing feedback upon complaints, as well as reporting to the decision-makers and stakeholders on the overall results of assessing the quality of provided services;  provision of technical and technological conditions, in the form of procurement of appropriate software and IT equipment, for each OSS and MPALSG;  capacity building and establishment of an appropriate mechanism (contact center) within the MPALSG which will deal with the collection and processing of the acquired data, as well as with the coordination of actions of the competent authorities and reporting.

3. What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment? The implementation of this commitment shall, first of all, enable the citizens and business entities, as service users, to express their views about the quality of services provided to them within the OSS, which was previously not the case. More importantly, the information necessary for the further development of both the specific services and the Service Provision Policy itself will be collected in this way, based on the data and direct user experience "from the field", which was also not a practice until now. At the same time, the introduction of measurement of user satisfaction with services provided within the OSS would serve as a type of piloting for the establishment of a centralized system which would include such measurement in relation to all services provided by the public administration (and not only those within the OSSs). Observed as a whole, the implementation of this commitment would contribute to the further development of the Service Provision Policy, which focuses on the needs and experiences of users.

Commitment Analysis

1. How will the commitment promote transparency? N/A

2. How will the commitment help foster accountability? Measurements of user satisfaction, including the possibility of filing complaints, shall contribute to raising the level of accountability of public administration bodies-service providers within the OSSs due to the very fact that their work and actions will be subject to evaluation, which was not the case until now. In this way, the authorities shall be encouraged to improve the quality of services they provide, and therefore to act more responsibly towards service users.

3. How will the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions? The commitment directly promotes the participation of citizens in the creation of public policies, in the instant case the Service Provision Policy, bearing in mind that service users will be able to evaluate their quality and submit complaints, which will be the basis for further creation of solutions in the aforementioned area based on data and needs of the citizens. In addition, the implementation of the commitment shall enable the direct participation and impact of citizens on the creation/improvement of individual, concrete services, the quality of which will be evaluated through the established system.

Commitment Planning (Milestones | Expected Outputs | Expected Completion Date)

1. Development of a technical specification with a methodology for measuring user satisfaction with the services provided within the existing OSSs (defining the methods of collecting and processing the collected data, responding to the competent authorities and providing feedback on complaints, as well as reporting to the decision-makers and stakeholders on the overall results of assessing the quality of provided services) | Developed technical specification with methodology for measuring user satisfaction with services provided within OSSs | II quarter of 2024

2. Ensuring the technical and technological conditions for measuring user satisfaction with the services provided within the existing OSSs, in the form of procurement and installation of appropriate software and IT equipment | Provided and installed software and IT equipment required for measuring user satisfaction with the services provided within the existing OSSs | IV quarter of 2024

3. Capacity building and establishment of an appropriate mechanism (contact center) within MPALSG for collection and processing of the acquired data, coordination of actions of the competent authorities and reporting | Established mechanism for collection and processing of the acquired data, coordination of actions of the competent authorities and reporting within the MPALSG | I quarter of 2026