Filenews 10 July 2023
The aim of the reform in Local Government was the independence from the state, the financial autonomy, the viability and the administrative autonomy of the Municipalities through the creation of economies of scale, the concentration of the necessary population mass and the relative social homogeneity overturning small sizes and fragmentation.
The initial planning provided for 9 and we ended up with 20 municipalities and about 60 local authorities, largely ignoring the basic principle of consultation and referenda.
The heterogeneity is huge since by way of example alone I mention that we have Municipalities with a population of more than 105,000 such as the Municipalities of Limassol and Nicosia and Municipalities with a population of less than 7000, such as the Municipalities of West Pafos, Chrysochous, Lefkara and Athienou, most of which will have disproportionate geographical coverage.
Once again, we have planned wrongly, creating a host of organizational problems that will become apparent during implementation.
If we give an optimistic note, it would be the approach that even with mistakes reform is a step in the right direction and we should see:
(a) What we have time to improve.
(b) What we should de facto change after identifying and recording errors and problems in the implementation of legislation.
Against this background, the challenges are great and numerous
Financial Resources
The legislation provides for €117 million. state sponsorship, in proportion to size, slightly below the 2013 grant. This sponsorship, which was still not sufficient at the time, is certainly lower in real terms after 10 years. Paradoxically, while the responsibilities of the Municipalities (range of services, etc.) are increasing, development licenses and the corresponding significant revenues have been removed.
Therefore, it is imperative for Municipalities to create new sources of revenue, such as the utilization of Municipal Property and European Programs and the creation of PPP's.
The increase in revenue becomes even more imperative given the provision of the legislator that the payroll of the Municipality does not exceed 40% of the budget.
Organization
In its effort to help, the Central Coordinating Committee has drawn up a standardized organizational chart.
The effort is correct, but impossible to apply a standardized organizational chart to such disparate organizational structures with completely different staffing (quantitative and qualitative). Therefore, Municipalities should be allowed to design the new organizational structure flexibly based on the particularities of each Municipality and evolutionarily simulate it in the general model
Organizational gaps are recorded in the absence of policies and procedures. The new Municipalities will have to implement Management, Quality, Environmental Management, Safety & Health and Public Governance systems as well as efficient control systems.
It is worth mentioning that it is a unique opportunity to redesign business processes (Business Process Reengineering) to correct all the bad things in TA.
Manpower
TA is called upon to prepare for the operation of the new Legislation with an increased volume of work, in most cases without sufficient staff, since during the transitional period any recruitment is prohibited.
New organizational structure, New Service Plans, consolidation and proper utilization / allocation of personnel, implementation of new software, new regulations for the management of welfare funds, welfare and pensions and other benefits just to name a few.
It is also a great opportunity and challenge to design new service plans and design rational personnel evaluation systems.
Mergers will bring local authorities face to face with different work cultures and mentalities, infrastructure, payrolls, benefits, policies and practices and will have to be redesigned and adapted accordingly within the framework of a holistic and mainly effective system of organization and development of Human Resources.
Of particular importance will be the training of staff for the new areas of treatment but also in soft digital and technical skills in which large gaps are identified in the diagnostic studies carried out in Municipalities.
*Executive President of the Cypronetwork Consulting Group.
