Environment Protection and Regional Development Minister Juris Pūce (AP!) will inform deputies about the work of the Ministry in drafting a new Law on Local Governments during the meeting of the Saeima State Administration and Local Government Committee on Wednesday.
Minister Juris Pūce: “Since the adoption of the Law on Local Governments in 1994, significant changes have been made to the public administration in general, including a series of improvements to reduce administrative burdens, the scope of regulatory enactments and improve the quality of public services to be provided. . The work of local governments and their supervision require a new, modern legal framework which will provide a sound basis for organising local governments' work and address the identified shortcomings of the law. "
The Minister will inform Saeima deputies about the solutions proposed by developing the new Local Government Law, such as a clearer separation of decision-making powers and executive powers, improving the division of competences and functions, specifying the model of the local government work organisation and the competence of officials. . The Minister has already initially intervened to extend the involvement of the population in the work of local governments in order to facilitate the participation of the population in deciding important issues for them.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (MAY) propose the introduction of a budget for participation, thereby ensuring a democratic process that enables citizens themselves to determine how part of the local government budget is spent. The draft law also proposes to introduce a requirement for the provision of a population advisory council in municipalities in order to maintain a dialogue between residents of the parish and the City Council, as well as to determine the possibility for residents of the local government to submit a collective submission to the City Council U. The draft law provides for the imposition of an obligation on the authorities to issue binding rules, justify their need and also reflect their impact on the local government budget. . On the other hand, in order for each person to know his or her rights and to have access to the legislative instrument setting it up, the binding rules will be published on the portal law.
The Ministry proposes to identify areas in which pre-monitoring of binding regulations issued by local governments should be carried out and to waive the need to issue binding rules in such matters as to have uniform procedures throughout the territory of the State. This will not only ease and make jobs more smooth, but will also reduce the administrative burden within the Ministry itself. The Pūce will present the vision of the ministry in the drafting of a separate chapter on Riga in the Law, taking into account economic activity, the specific nature of activity as the capital, as well as the large population.
The draft law aims to impose specific requirements on applicants for the post of Executive Director and Deputy Director and to define the conditions for the merger of posts. . The new law also aims to improve the public reporting model by ensuring transparency and promoting citizens' awareness and awareness of the circulation of municipal financial resources.
Active work with non-governmental organisations representing local governments and sectoral ministries is taking place in the drafting of the bill. . The ministry must submit the bill to the government by the end of October.
Other information:
Agnese Vārpiņa
Minister's Councillor for Communications and Public Relations
Ministry for Environmental Protection and Regional Development
Tel. 67026478
e-mail: agnese.varpina@varam.gov.lv