Administrative Service Decentrilisation and Improvement (UA0057)

Event: Improvement of quality and transparency in the provision of administrative services: 1) Decentralisation of powers to provide the most important administrative services for the public and the integration of basic administrative services in administrative service centres.; Implementation timeframe: 2016-2018; Entities responsible: Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Regional Development, Ministry of Agricultural Policy, State Agency for E-governance, State Land Cadastre, Regional and Kyiv Municipal State administrations, local government authorities (by consent).; Partners: Centre for Policy and Legal Reform non-governmental organisation, other civil society institutions and international organisations (by consent).; Expected results: Delegation of powers for the provision of the main administrative services to the local authorities (the appropriate regulations have been adopted) and/or provision of the following services through the administrative service centres: Issuance of internal passports to Ukrainian citizens and passports for citizens of Ukraine to travel abroad. State registration of land plots, entry and retrieval of information from the State Land Cadastre State registration of civil records.2) Monitoring of the functioning of the administrative service centres.; Implementation timeframe: December 2017; Entities responsible: Ministry of Economic Development, State Agency for E-governance, local state administrations.; Partners: Centre of Policy and Legal Reform and Transparency International Ukraine non-governmental organisations, other civil society institutions and international organisations (by consent). Expected results: Creation of an information system for monitoring the functioning of the administrative service centres. 3) Holding of information and explanatory campaigns regarding the provision of administrative services, including in united local communities. Implementation timeframe: 2016-2018; Entities responsible: Ministry of Information Policy, Ministry of Regional Development, Ministry of Economic Development, State Agency for E-governance, other central executive agencies, Regional and Kyiv Municipal State administrations, local government authorities (by consent).; Partners: Civil society institutions and international organisations (by consent).; Expected results: Ensuring the: Raising of awareness among the public about the operation of the administrative service system through the administrative service centres. Implementation of educational campaigns regarding the procedure for obtaining administrative services. Holding of webinars for representatives of civil society institutions on reforming the administrative services system. Distribution of the appropriate social advertising materials. Creation of specialised educational programmes.

1. Improve the quality and transparency of administrative services

Commitment Text:

Improvement of quality and transparency in the provision of administrative services:

1) Decentralization of powers to provide the most important administrative services for the public and the integration of basic administrative services in administrative service centers.

Expected results: Delegation of powers for the provision of the main administrative services to the local authorities (the appropriate regulations have been adopted) and/or provision of the following services through the administrative service centers:

• Issuance of internal passports to Ukrainian citizens and passports for citizens of Ukraine to travel abroad.
• State registration of land plots, entry and retrieval of information from the State Land Cadastre
• State registration of civil records.

2) Monitoring of the functioning of the administrative service centers.

Expected results: Creation of an information system for monitoring the functioning of the administrative service centers.

3) Holding of information and explanatory campaigns regarding the provision of administrative services, including in united local communities.

Expected results: Raising of awareness among the public about the operation of the administrative service system through the administrative service centers. Implementation of educational campaigns regarding the procedure for obtaining administrative services. Holding of webinars for representatives of civil society institutions on reforming the administrative services system. Distribution of the appropriate social advertising materials. Creation of specialized educational programs.

Responsible Institutions: Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Regional Development, Ministry of Agricultural Policy, State Agency for E-governance, State Land Cadastre, Regional and Kyiv Municipal State administrations, local government authorities (by consent); Ministry of Economic Development, State Agency for E-governance, local state administrations; Ministry of Information Policy, Ministry of Regional Development, Ministry of Economic Development, State Agency for E-governance, other central executive agencies, Regional and Kyiv Municipal State administrations, local government authorities (by consent).

Supporting Institutions: Center for Policy and Legal Reform non-governmental organization, other civil society institutions and international organizations (by consent); Center of Policy and Legal Reform and Transparency International Ukraine non-governmental organizations, other civil society institutions and international organizations (by consent); Civil society institutions and international organizations (by consent).

Start date: December 2016..                                     End date: August 2018

Commitment Aim:

The commitment aims to decentralize the provision of administrative services by establishing regional administrative service centers. Commitment activities include monitoring the functioning of the service centers and conducting an awareness-raising campaign about services provided by the centers.

Status

Midterm: Limited

This commitment made limited progress by midterm. The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade reported that by the end of September 2017, 675 administrative service centers, 48 territorial divisions, and 20 distance working places were operational. [1] However, only in 31 of these did the government make available the full 15 common administrative services. [2] Further, only 20 had the equipment to process all of the services. [3] The monitoring component of the commitment was in its initial phase. The government made more progress in the public awareness campaign. It reported holding 800 meetings with citizens and media, producing 35,000 informational materials in both national and regional print media, conducting four educational campaigns, and holding 338 awareness-raising events. [4] For more information, please see the 2016–2018 IRM midterm report. [5]

End of term: Substantial

During the second year, the government furthered its progress by increasing the number of service centers and the number of services offered. It also made progress in adopting the relevant regulations for delegating authority to administrative centers. In October 2017, the Cabinet of Ministers passed regulation #782. The regulation delegated more services to local administrative centers. [6] These services included the following:

• the registration of worker safety conditions declaration (#52),
• the registration of off-road technological vehicles (#54),
• the registration of a declaration that a real estate object is ready for operation (#78),
• the issuance of construction permission (#79),
• the issuance of an construction object's acceptance for operation declaration (#80),
• the registration of waste declaration (#84),
• the state (re)registration of vehicles (#102),
• the issuance (exchange) of driver's licenses (#103), and
• the state registration of civil status (#104). [7]

Due to the above-mentioned regulation, local administrative centers now have the mandate to deliver to citizens or transfer to other agencies 136 administrative services. [8] Also, on 29 August 2018 the Ministry of Justice issued a decree authorizing administrative service centers to perform the state registration of civil records. [9]

While the Cabinet of Ministers has passed the regulation mentioned above, Parliament has not adopted the planned changes to legislation. In particular, the draft law on the decentralization of state registration of civil records (#6150) is still under review by the Parliament. [10] Also, the draft law on the state registration of land plots (#8049) has not yet come before Parliament for a vote. [11] Moreover, the Ministry of Internal Affairs still processes vehicle registrations and driver’s license issuances, and the local administrative centers serve only as intermediaries. [12]

The government established several new administrative service centers in cities. According to the government, as of November 2018, 112 administrative service centers issued passports for citizens of Ukraine to travel abroad. [13] This accounts for approximately 14.6 percent of all centers. The government reported that  213 officials of local self-government bodies and 45 administrative service centers were able to retrieve information on the registration of land plots from the State Land Cadastre. [14] Furthermore, the government authorized 62 village councils, 56 city councils, and 90 administrative service centers to issue certifications about registered land plots into the State Land Cadastre. [15] Moreover, on 6 August 2018 the State Agency for E-Governance and EGOV4UKRAINE signed a memorandum for the pilot testing of the information system Vulyk in 10 cities. This action helped the centers to automate provison of services. [16]

The government has developed systemic monitoring of the administrative service centers. The government representative explained that the government conducts monitoring in paper format. Using this data, administrative service centers fill in an Excel table. Information from that table is then aggregated at the regional level and presented to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. [17] In addition, 10 administrative service centers are testing a digital monitoring system with a set of indicators, rankings, and map visualizations. [18] A civil society expert confirmed the existence of the monitoring system, which is regularly updated by the ministry. [19] As part of his work for U-LEAD, this expert routinely communicates with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. The government has made the results of the monitoring (as of 1 July 2018) publicly available in the format of infographics: 767 administrative service centers were created. The government has relatively evenly geographically distributed the centers across regions. In the first half of 2018, 29 new centers were created. Of all administrative service centers, only 16 percent provided fewer than 50 services. Fifty-six percent provided 50-135 services, 23 percent provided 136-200 services, and 5 percent provide over 200 services. Only 16 percent were able to access the State Land Cadastre, and only 29 percent provided e-services. [20]

The wide awareness-raising campaign continued. In particular, the government used TV promotion and social media. It also used visualization of the centers on Google Maps, with real-time information about the centers’ workloads. [21] A civil society expert noted the assistance of international technical support programs, such as U-LEAD with Europe, with the information campaign activities. [22]

Did It Open Government?

Access to Information: Marginal

Despite a lack of clear connection with core OGP values, this commitment has had some effect on improving public access to information about the availability of administrative services. Citizens can now find many of the functioning administrative service centers on Google Maps. [23] They can also find the centers’ addresses, phone numbers, and working hours. Citizens can check the centers’ websites and learn useful legal and practical information about the administrative services provided. The government made a substantial effort to inform citizens both offline and online [24]^, [25] about available administrative services and how to obtain them. Offline efforts involved notice in other government agencies. Online efforts included maintenance of the ministry’s website and information on Google Maps. These efforts contributed to marginal improvement in access to information about the functioning of the centers and the range of provided services.

Carried Forward?

The government had not approved the next action plan when this report was written. Thus, it is not clear if this commitment will be carried forward. Given the importance of decentralization reform in Ukraine, the government needs to continue measures to improve administrative service delivery beyond the OGP framework, with accompanying awareness campaigns, and monitoring.

[1] “The Information about the Centers for the Provision of Administrative Services in the Regions of Ukraine (as of 01.10.2017),” Activities, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, 19 October 2017, http://www.me.gov.ua/Documents/Detail?lang=uk-UA&id=8383e170-308f-4578-844c-18536964b218&title=InformatsiiaSchodoTsentrivNadanniaAdministrativnikhPoslugURegionakhUkraini-stanomNa01-10-2016-. (link no longer accessible as of 13 February 2019

[2] “Ukraine Mid-Term Report 2016–2018,” Open Government Partnership, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/ukraine-mid-term-report-2016-2018-year-1/.

[3] Ibid.

[4] “The Interim Report on the Realization of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Open Government Partnership Initiative in 2016–2018,” Civil Society and Authorities: Governmental Website, accessed 13 September 2017 (link no longer accessible as of 25 April 2018) http://civic.kmu.gov.ua/consult_mvc_kmu/uploads/attach-3467-910681586.doc.

[5] “Ukraine Mid-Term Report 2016–2018,” Open Government Partnership, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/ukraine-mid-term-report-2016-2018-year-1/.

[6] “Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The Regulation on 11 October 2017 #782-p, the Government Portal,” Unified Web-Portal of Executive Authorities of Ukraine, http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/uk/cardnpd?docid=250401348.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] “The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. The Decree on 29 August 2018 #2825/5,” the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine: The Official Web-portal, http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/z0979-18#n2.

[10] “The Draft Law on Amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On State Registration of Civil Records,’” #6150, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine: The Official Web-portal, http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?pf3511=61255.

[11] “The Draft Law on Amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On State Land Cadaster,’” #8049, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine: The Official Web-portal, http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?id=&pf3511=63506.

[12] “Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The Regulation on 11 October 2017 #782-p, The Government Portal.”

[13] “The Report on the Realization of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Open Government Partnership initiative in 2016–2018,” the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. https://www.kmu.gov.ua/storage/app/media/17-civik-2018/partnerstvo/zvit_OGP%202016-2018.doc

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ibid.

[16] “A Memorandum on the Introduction of the Information System ‘Vulyk’ Has Been Signed,” News, State Agency for E-Governance of Ukraine, 7 August 2018, https://www.e.gov.ua/content/pidpysano-memorandum-stosovno-vprovadzhennya-informaciynoyi-systemy-vulyk.

[17] Oleksandr Kamenchuk (Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine), interview with IRM researcher, 7 August 2018.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Victor Tymoshchuk (Center of Policy and Legal Reform), interview with IRM researcher, 9 August 2018.

[20] “The Network of Administrative Service Centers in Ukraine,” Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, http://www.me.gov.ua/Documents/Download?Id=d8841ecb-c14c-4aeb-8aa9-7663e5229c24.

[21] Oleksandr Kamenchuk (Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine), interview with IRM researcher, 7 August 2018.

[22] Victor Tymoshchuk (Center of Policy and Legal Reform), interview with IRM researcher, 9 August 2018.

[23] Google Maps, https://www.google.com/maps.

[24] “Administrative Services,” Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, http://www.me.gov.ua/Tags/DocumentsByTag?lang=uk-UA&id=1998a31e-a0ce-4f64-9b74-ed7212f0522b&tag=AdministrativniPoslugi.

[25] Google Maps, https://www.google.com/maps.