Montenegro announces public administration reform with annual savings of 23 million euros

Luis Montenegro, the prime minister, announced on Tuesday at the end of a meeting at which a document entitled “First phase of public administration reform” was presented that the government “estimates annual savings of $23 million through public administration reform,” a higher figure . savings than the Socialist Party expected.

The Prime Minister also states that 23 members of the government are currently moving to Campus XXI, which will result in the merger of eight of the 11 general secretariats into the General Secretariat of the Government.

He adds that the goal is to have “fewer businesses, fewer positions, fewer logistics costs and fewer buildings.”

Also unveiled on Tuesday were some measures for public administration, such as mandatory daily walk-in service, delivery of documents without pre-scheduling, increased scheduling and assessment, and real-time availability of service wait times. citizens.

Luis Montenegro defends the need for “a more balanced approach between appointment and face-to-face services,” while Presidential Minister António Leitán Amaro says the reform “preserves and gradually increases jobs in public administration.”

“This reform affects all ministries and more departments (…) and guarantees the reduction of positions, since it is a more democratic reform. In the previous reform there was a kind of sub-government,” he adds.

Luis Montenegro also states that this is a reform that “improves the state, providing more opportunities for quality services to citizens,” given that coordination, planning and evaluation of public policies will be strengthened.

The Prime Minister also said the reform paves the way “for the creation of a center of specialized legal services within the state” that can respond “to requests of greater complexity at lower cost and with less impact on interests outside the public sphere.”