Spain: From Administrative Reform to Continuous Improvement

This comprehensive review of public governance in Spain finds that it shares with other OECD countries the need for a whole-of-government approach to reform. This is especially needed given Spain’s high degree of decentralisation and institutional fragmentation throughout the public sector. The experience of OECD countries with administrative reform is that it is successful when it is not perceived as a one-off exercise, but rather as a process of continuous improvement to constantly identify waste, shortcomings, and opportunities to do things better. This is particularly relevant for the public administration to become a positive influence for growth and overcome the effects of the financial crisis Spain has been through.

Contents:

+ Acronyms and abbreviations

+ Executive summary

+ Recommendations: Creating an environment for continuous improvement

+ Chapter 1. The context of state development in Spain
-The rapid transformation of the Spanish state
-The state of governance and public administration
-Going institutional: the governance emphasis in the Spanish reform package
-Bibliography

+ Chapter 2. Administrative rationalisation and multi-level governance
-Administrative structure and rationalisation reforms
-Multi-level governance reforms
-Bibliography

+ Chapter 3. Raising Spain’s productivity through better regulation
-CORA initiatives dealing with Better Regulation and administrative simplification
-Background and diagnostic
-Opportunities for improvement
-Bibliography

+ Chapter 4. Strengthening digital government for a more strategic public administration in Spain
-Digital government in Spain
-The transversal role of ICT to make public administration reform happen
-Transforming ICT management into a strategic asset
-Strengthening multi-level co-ordination
-A more user friendly administration: Simplifying access and improving service delivery
-Shared services: Increasing rationalisation and consolidation
-Recommended actions
-Bibliography

+ Chapter 5. Mobilising and using resources: public financial management and public procurement in Spain
-Public financial management
-Procurement reforms in Spain
-Bibliography

+ Chapter 6. Developing a sustainable and flexible human resources management system
-Spain’s public service today
-Meeting the short-term human resources challenges in the CORA report: Sustainable job cuts and administrative reforms
-Embedding human resources management considerations in administrative reforms
-Focusing on the longer term: Building capacity to manage performance from the senior civil service downwards
-Conclusion and recommendations
-Bibliography

+ Chapter 7. Strengthening transparency and building trust in government in Spain
-Transparency in the reform of the Spanish public administration
-Transparency in complementary reforms
-Trust, integrity and democratic regeneration
-Conclusions and recommendations
-Bibliography

+ Chapter 8. Implementing governance reform in Spain: challenges and opportunities
-Reinforcing accountability and evaluation
-Ensuring the consistency of the reform package
-Balancing efficiency and effectiveness
-Promoting collective commitment for reform
-Making the reform sustainable in the long term
-Bibliography

+ Annex A. Cross-reference table: OECD and CORA reports

Website: OECD iLibrary http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/

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