The Congress of Deputies has definitively approved this Thursday the Draft Law for the Institutionalization of the Evaluation of Public Policies in the General State Administration, a standard that aims to promote a true culture of evaluation, by establishing a systematization of the analysis of the various media and policies implemented by the Executive.
This rule, which was approved by the Council of Ministers last May, has passed all the public hearing procedures, was sent to Congress, where all the parliamentary processing began, including its passage through the Senate, and is now approved final form in the lower house.
The approval of this standard constitutes one of the milestones of Component 11 Modernization of Public Administrations of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, specifically milestone 146, related to the creation of the aforementioned law.
Incorporations in the parliamentary process
Among the innovations incorporated into the parliamentary procedure, what stands out is related to the prevention and fight against depopulation and the demographic challenge. To this end, it has added an Additional Provision that includes the Government's impulse for the implementation of the Rural Guarantee Mechanism. In this way, the demographic challenge has been incorporated into the standard as one of the technical aspects that must be taken into account in a general way in the design of public policies, and has been included among the criteria of public value for the evaluation and in the elements of the ethical code of the evaluation team.
The additional innovation focuses on the obligation to allocate, for each evaluation project, an economic item for its realization, which must be clearly specified and configured to the real needs in the evaluation assignment.
In terms of transparency, the obligations are also extended. Publish the final evaluation reports and the annual report on the thematic evaluation portal, also on the transparency portal and on the web portal of the State Agency.
Objectives of the standard
With this norm it is intended that the evaluation of public policies serve to increase the effectiveness of the allocation of resources and optimize the decision-making process; to stimulate innovation in public sector actions, aimed at a modern and useful management to solve social problems and challenges; and to advance in the control of responsibilities and accountability.
The standard introduces a transversal, comprehensive and participatory approach when measuring the impact of public policies on citizens. In this way, the capacities of the public system of evaluation of public policies in the General State Administration are strengthened, the necessary tools to analyze the impact of policies with a broader approach than the merely budgetary or linked to spending.
Thus, they will take into account other variables, such as the gender perspective, intergenerational balance, the demographic challenge, digital transformation or social and environmental sustainability. Likewise, other variables have been added to the parliamentary process, such as those related to childhood, employment or social justice.
All this, in order to improve the formulation of public policies, as well as their subsequent implementation. The aim is to improve the quality, effectiveness and stability of these policies.
Complying with the requirements of international organizations
In this way, the requirements of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Union to advance in the process of institutionalizing the evaluation of public policies and to provide Spain with a regulatory framework that regulate matter.
The evaluation of public policies has been consolidated as a tool for improvement and learning of government actions, to favor decision-making, propose possible corrections and, ultimately, return accounts to the citizenry. In this sense, neither starting from zero, is that the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIREF) has extensive experience in reviewing public spending. However, with the new standard, it will be discussed to expand this evaluation with a more transversal approach.
News of the Law
The law contemplated a series of novelties in order to implement a basic organization and a stable planning mechanism of the General State Administration when evaluating its policies:
– It will design a system of common indicators to undertake the monitoring applicable to the General State Administration and to serve as a reference for any body or public administration.
– The evaluation of public policies will be carried out by an external team responsible for the public policy to be evaluated.
– The law contemplated the design of specific plans for training in the evaluation of public policies for public employees.
– Claims to reinforce the 'ex ante' evaluation, prior to the approval of public policies. The results of the evaluations will be used to improve these policies, incorporate these results in decision-making.
– Departmental coordination units will be set up, in charge of coordinating and monitoring the public policy evaluation activities of each Ministry.
– Two types of instruments were established to carry out the evaluation of policies: the Government's Strategic Evaluation Plan, of a four-year nature, and the departmental Evaluation Plan, prepared by each Ministry, which will have a biennial periodicity and will contemplate both the obligation 'ex ante' and 'ex post' evaluation of policies with special repercussions on the budget or their economic and social impact. In this case, there will be an obligation to carry out an intermediate analysis in policies that last for years or more.
– The body responsible for each public policy must be accountable as to whether the recommendations of the evaluation report were adopted, or explain why otherwise.
New Agency Assessment Status
The new norm contemplated the creation of a body, the State Agency for the Evaluation of Public Policies, to coordinate, supervise and promote the public system of evaluation and support, support and supervision of ministerial departments.
This agency will be in charge of designing two key tools to advance the digital planning, monitoring and evaluation processes of any public action: a common web service for all Departments; There is a thematic portal under evaluation, which will include the institutional communication portal.
In order to promote coordination between the different government portfolios, the Superior Evaluation Commission will be created, a collegiate inter-ministerial body for cooperation and participation in the AGE.
Promote the participation of civil society through the creation of a General Evaluation Council, where entities, organizations and grants help the evaluation culture.
