Mario Fava, president of Labour Party, local government section
Local government is a vital part of our democracy. Most of the interactions between residents and central government, take place through local councils. They provide leadership for local areas and communities, democratic accountability for a wide range of services and is the key and good practice for effective partnership at local level.
So, in order to guarantee the future of local councils, we need strong councils that provide the high-quality services and infrastructure communities deserve. It is evident that the central government is committed to build on the strengths of local government and improving the performance and financial sustainability of local councils so they can serve their respective communities better.
The White Paper published a few weeks back confirms this commitment, as the effectiveness and efficiency of the administrative structures are priorities.
It is being proposed that the regional councils will be allocated specific roles and responsibilities, as well as the necessary resources to carry them out. As a matter of fact, for the first time since being set up, regional councils will receive a direct financial allocation of over €3 million, being in a much better position to assist the local councils.
The set-up of Infrastructure Malta was seen by a few as centralisation of power. However, this is not the case. To the contrary, the government is investing wholeheartedly into a responsibility that was weighing down local councils for years.
Such work could not be done due to a lack of resources. Now, the councils will retain the €7.5 million yearly, to implement projects that will continue to benefit communities instead. During this process, the local councils will retain an active role through continuous collaboration with their respective regions.
The social aspect, education and the community are also important since the local councils are the authority closest to the citizens. It is imperative that they offer the best possible service while supporting and assisting their residents. Such Initiatives strengthen the sense of community and belonging within the locality.
To this effect, it is being proposed that relevant legislation should indicate areas of operation that would fall under the councillors’ responsibilities. Such responsibilities will include cleanliness, environment, youth, sports and physical activities, innovation, infrastructure, projects, the elderly, education, cultural, social welfare and local communities.
It is also being proposed that citizens should be invited to contribute to the work plan to increase local participation.
Investment in human resources is a must for regional and local councils to function more efficiently and effectively. They will be given greater autonomy with regards to the number of employees they recruit and better career opportunities for same employees. Besides all this, having a direct allocation increase of over €7 million for 2019, can hardly be interpreted as the end of local government in Malta, especially when compared to other European countries, where local councils are facing cuts in their financial allocations.
Robert Cutajar, Nationalist Party spokesman on Local Councils, Communities and European Funds
This year marked the 25th anniversary of the introduction of local councils, which remains one of the major milestones achieved by the Nationalist Party. The PN is updating its vision for local councils and suggesting ways to develop.
It is undeniable that local councils are extremely positive for our communities. Despite this, the main political parties’ philosophy behind the objectives of local councils is quite different. While the PN is proposing ways how they can be of better service to the citizens, Labour strives to have local councils at its service. The government slashed their executive powers for its sole benefit and all fingers are pointing at downgrading the councils’ remit.
It is high time that councils are given more resources, authority and support to give the best service and solve problems at local level. We proposed 80 proposals on five major principles. Hopefully, the government takes on board these proposals and implement them.
Dealing with social problems at local level: local councils’ remit should not be limited to road and pavement works only.
While these functions are important for the quality of life, councils should be pivotal in tackling social problems, which are on the increase in our country. This gives the opportunity to attempt at solving these problems as early as possible with a better chance of finding solutions.
Security issues in our constantly changing localities: recent bouts of theft and criminality in a number of localities were of major concern to the respective communities. We should not treat the lack of security in our localities lightly but local councils should be empowered to confront any security issues.
Better collaboration between the local councils: we want councilswhich cooperate and work collaboratively in regional organisations.This does not exclude the most important collaboration between councils in the same region. It is therefore vital that regional committees aresupported and strengthened without weakening local councils’ remitand authority.
Investment of public funds in our localities: we want better financed local councils. Unfortunately, lately, councils have experienced lack of public funding which is unacceptable.
The government is ready to fund the few chosen ones close to the higher echelons of Castille and not the local councils. We are insisting that public funding should be directed to help as many residents as possible.
Effective and efficient administration: we want local councils with improved, effective and efficient administrations. The vicinity of local administration to residents proved to be advantageous to have better administered localities.
The PN believes strongly in politics by the people, for the people. The PN is also confident that local councils can be the agent that promote a caring society.
Martin Cauchi Inglott, Secretary General, Democratic Party
For governance to be effective, it should be decentralised to the maximum extent possible, so those whose responsibility it is to make the system function, are empowered to manage the process and drive change. The introduction of the local council concept was, consequently, a very necessary step, towards subsidiarity, which has made a positive impact on our immediate society. But have councils become more effective since 1993? I contend that though still important, councils today have less power, in the sense that they have less ownership and authority.
I feel that the concept of politicising local councils has been counter-productive and today this continues to fuel our already highly charged tribal society. Moreover, politicisation of local councils has diminished civic sense and locality pride when these should have added value.
For example, local political party clubs should have been used to generate healthy debates in an unbiased setting (town halls) but most have ended up having a direct hand in the administration and operations of the local councils.
Many very capable persons are probably not contributing to local government because they are unwilling to have any connection to partisan politics. In this respect, credit should be given to Alfred Sant who had argued against the politicisation of local councils.
Local councils do not have the political clout to push for reform and/or decisions which affect their respective communities. One way of overcoming this deficiency is by combining the power of local councils regionally, through the creation of 13 additional district councils that match the 13 electoral districts.
This would introduce an official link to the five elected members of Parliament from the same district, establishing an official platform through which the latter would be obliged to take stands on contentious issues. and if needs be, push them to Parliament for debate.
I note that certain infrastructure assignments have been taken away by this government. Now there are those who may argue that local councils are unable to implement infrastructural projects because they lack the skills. This may be the case in some local councils as it is difficult to engage experienced project managers due to their small size, but the introduction of 13 senior district councils should allow a number of projects to evolve, again decentralising government power, which is now steamrolling over all local councils.
To conclude, day-to-day running of local councils has shown a number of deficiencies, but after 25 years, lessons have been learnt and it is now high time to review established policies in a responsible manner.
Malta has to move away from political tribalism and towards mature governance. Depoliticising local councils would be a first step in this regard, and coupled to this should be the empowerment of councils as rightful local governments, becoming the citizens’ prime voice with all entities, be they regulators or ministries.
But to be efficient and effective, the Local Councils Act should also provide new processes which improve the quality of life of the communities.
If you would like to put any questions to the parties in Parliament send an e-mail marked clearly Question Time to editor@timesofmalta.com.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece