Accountability Assessment can no longer be an option. The need of Evaluation to Responsible Governments

EUPAN Summer School 2023
Open Government:
Transparency, Accountability, Participation and Public integrity
ACCOUNTABILITY: Assessment can no longer be an
option. The need of Evaluation to Responsible
Governments

8th November.EUPAN Summer School 2023
Open Government:
ACCOUNTABILITY & PUBLIC INTEGRITY at the core of Open Government
Round Table moderated by Yolanda Santos Lamata (IEVAL).
▪ Alejandro Marquez, Deputy Director in
Accountability. General Secretariat of the Presidency
of the Government
▪ César Colino, Professor in Universidad Nacional
de Educación a Distancia (UNED)
ACCOUNTABILITY: Assessment can no longer be an option. The need of Evaluation to Responsible Governments

Open Government:
About speakers
Alejandro Márquez César Colino Yolanda Santos

Accountability report of
the Government of Spain
Summer School EUPAN23
8 November 2023
PRESIDENCIA DEL GOBIERNO

► Theorical framework, purpose and background
► Principles of the Accountability process of the Government
of Spain
► Methodology
► Results and presentation
► Informing the public about the exercise
► Meeting Our Commitments within the theoretical framework
► Future aspirations
Contents
Accountability report of the
Government of Spain

Theorical framework, purpose and
background

Theorical framework
OBLIGATION
The actor should feel obliged to report
on its conduct, providing data
TO WHOM
The explanation should be addressed to a
particular forum or stakeholder group
CONTENT
Explanation and justification of the
conduct are essential and different from
providing generic information or
advertising
PUBLIC
Public accessibility of accountability
exercise, and not purely internal or
discrete
M. Bovens A. Schedler
Proper information to
the citizenry
Justification of
the decisions
Sanctions
Government of Spain

Complementarity
The process whereby the
President of the Government
regularly submits the
achievement of commitments
undertaken to public scrutiny
Parliament’s
scrutiny of the
executive
Justice Courts
Evaluations
Vertical
Accountability
(executive branch)
Internal
mechanisms
(Public
administration)
The State
Administration
Controller General’s
Office (IGAE),
Inspections
Horizontal
Accountability:
Court of Auditors,
Ombudsman,
AIReF, …
Accountability mechanisms in
Spain Accountability report of the
Government of Spain

Enhancing the
quality of our
democracy and
advancing the
culture of public
governance
Developing an
institutional
learning process
enriched by public
debate
Knowing the status of commitments undertaken by the Government at the inauguration and
throughout its term of Parliament
Combating political
disaffection by
submitting the
Government’s
actions to
public scrutiny
the inaugural address of the President of the Government (4 January 2020)
Purpose and background of
Meeting our Commitments Accountability report of the
Government of Spain

Process characteristics
Initiative
→ President of the
Government of
Spain
→ Accountability
Unit (AU)
Scope
→ Nationwide
→ Sectoral
→ Territorial
Purpose
→ Status of
commitments
→ Detail of the
measures carried
out by the
Government
Target audience
→ The entire citizenry
→ Parliament
→ Interested groups and
institutions: Academia,
NGOs, Third sector entities
Government of Spain

Principles of the Accountability
process of the Government of Spain

Global and
shared
character
Includes all
commitments
Dynamic
follow-up
Methodological
accuracy
Traceability of
commitments
Public and
accesible
report
Ongoing
and
periodical
character
Low
information
transaction
costs
Submission
to public
scrutiny
Complementary
to other scrutiny
instruments
Principles Accountability report of the
Government of Spain

Methodology

Methodology
includes a good
part of its
considerations. The
rest will be subject
to detailed analysis
for implementation
To verify the validity,
applicability and
accuracy of the
designed
methodology
The conclusions of the Analysis
Group are public, accessible and
transparent
¿What is it? ¿What is it for? ¿How?
With independence
and criterion
freedom
The result
Public and transparent
composition
Methodological definition and design.
External Verification:
Methodological Analysis Group
Group of
experts in different
fields related to
accountability and
public policy
analysis
Government of Spain

Commitment
Any statement, obligation, promise, or declaration
expressly made by the Government to respond to a
specific public need or problem and, to a certain degree,
to convey the will to transform reality. A commitment,
therefore, generates an expectation in third parties, and
in return, a responsibility and obligation for the
Government to respond.
Incorporation of new commitments
Initiative
Any public measure, action, or decision
that launches a process or mobilizes
resources (human, budgetary, material, or
organizational) aimed at addressing a
public need or problem.
Foundations of the exercise Accountability report of the
Government of Spain
Verification source
Formal channels
Informational channels
Classifications
► Typology
► Territorial scope
Classifications
► Origin or source
► Lines of action set forth in the President of the
Government’s inaugural Address
► Cross-cutting lines of action of the Recovery,
Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP)
► Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
► Classification of the Functions of Government
(COFOG)
► Topics

Identification, systematization and analysis of the
commitments
Monitoring of commitments and initiatives
Pre-analysis of the achievement
Put in common with the Ministries
Preparation of periodic reports, including sectoral
and territorial reports
Communication of results to the citizenry, open data
Work system Accountability report of the
Government of Spain
Definition of achievement criteria

Achievement process Status of commitments
Achievement Accountability report of the
Government of Spain

Results and presentation

Evolution of commitments
73.2% met at December 2022
80.3% forecast to be met by June 2023
Inaugural address
73.2%
met at December 2022
Forecast
239
commitments
Dec-22
Jun-22
Quantitative and… qualitative data
Results Jun-22
► Iberian exception. Approval, with the authorization of the
European Commission, of the mechanism to limit the price of
gas and lower the price of electricity in the Iberian Peninsula.
► Waste and Contaminated Soil Act for a Circular Economy.
Provision for reducing the impact of certain plastic products
(single-use plastics) on the environment, thereby improving the
health of the oceans.
► Housing policies. Approval of the 2022-2025 National Plan for
access to housing, decision to allocate 500 million euros to
the Autonomous Communities and the Autonomous Cities of
Ceuta and Melilla for the construction of 10,000 affordable
social housing units available for rent, and 400 million euros
for the rental voucher for young people.
► Organic Law on the Regulation and Integration of Vocational
Training. Including the specific regulation of dual vocational
training, updating the contents of traditional qualifications and
trades, and committing to support, guidance and accreditation
of skills.
Government of Spain
Of commitments met and underway:
+ Relevant and non-associated initiatives
+ Main Points of the Meeting Our Commitments Report PRESIDENCIA DEL
GOBIERNO
80,3%
73,2%
59,0%

https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/Paginas/c
umpliendo/index.aspx
Public and accessible
outputs and information.
Open data
Government of Spain

Strengthening the open data system Accountability report of the
Government of Spain
achievement criteria verification sources
Published in open data
To corroborate the existence
of each of the initiatives
implemented
Elements determining how a
commitment is achieved
classifications
To allow the citizens to analyse that
commitments that are
most relevant to their specific
preferences or priorities

Display of information Accountability report of the
Government of Spain

Display of information Accountability report of the
Government of Spain
41 search topics
Agriculture and
livestock farming
Biodiversity and
animal protection
Climate change and
energy transition
Combating
discrimination
Consumers
Cooperation and international relations
Crises and emergencies Culture
Demographic
challenge
Dialogue with the
territories
Digital transformation
and telecommunications
Economic fabric
Employment
Electricity and gas
European Union Fisheries Gender equality
Gender-based
violence
Governance, quality and
democratic memory
Health and
healthcare
Housing and Urban Agenda
Infrastructure Job skills training Justice Migration
Modernization of defence
and military support
Non-university
education
Protection of children and
adolescents
Protection of
vulnerable people
Public employment Public services and
administration
R&D&i Security Social Security Sport
Support for young
people
Taxation and financial
sustainability
Territorial
cohesion
Tourism
University education
Water

Informing the public about the
exercise

► Presentation of the exercise by the President of the
Government at a press conference every six months
► Open Government Forum on 24 March 2021 and 10 march
2022
► Seminar in the Centre of Political and Constitutional Studies
(CEPC)
► Eighth Congress on Public Innovation (Novagob)
► Seminar in Master’s Degree in Public Policies and Program
Evaluation (UCM)
► Webinar with the organization Más Democracia
► Podcast Meeting Our Commitments: Accountability report of
the Government of Spain forms part of the Open
Administration Cycle within the framework of the 4th Open
Government Plan of Spain (2020-2024)
► UNED (Spain’s National Distance University) summer course
► VII International Congress on Transparency
Public disclosure of the exercise
► Presentation by the President of the Government in
Summit for Democracy held by the President of the
USA
► Specific webinar organized by the Latin American
Centre for Development Administration(CLAD)
► Embassies: informing at country level
► Bilateral meetings and outreach contacts as, for
example, this MOU with United Arab Emirates
► Seminar “Rendición pública de cuentas. Métodos
y experiencias inspiradoras en España y América
Latina” organized by General Secretariat of the
Presidency of the Government in collaboration with
CEPC and GIGAPP
► EUPAN Summer School 2023, on Open
Government: Transparency, Accountability,
Participation and Public integrity
Most relevant initiatives at national level
to inform the public:
Most relevant initiatives at international level to
inform the public:
Government of Spain
► Presented by the President of the Government every six months
► A sectoral assessment is published by all of the ministries
► A territorial assessment is presented by the Government Delegates
PRESIDENCIA DEL
GOBIERNO

Meeting our Commitments within the
theoretical framework

Meeting our Commitments within
the theoretical framework
OBLIGATION
TO WHOM
CONTENT
PUBLIC
M. Bovens
• Self-imposed obligation
• All data made available
• Institutionalisation
• Addressed to the citizenry
• Specific groups: Parliament,
civil society, academia, press
• Explanation of achievement.
Rigorous methodology
• Accurate, detailed, classified and
non-generic information
• Public access to all data: from
tool design to implementation
and results
The actor should feel obliged to report
on its conduct, providing data
The explanation should be addressed to a
particular forum or stakeholder group
Explanation and justification of the
conduct are essential and different from
providing generic information or
advertising
Public accessibility of accountability
exercise, and not purely internal or
discrete
Government of Spain

Future aspirations

Future aspirations
► Consolidating – institutionalizing accountability in Spain
► To achieve the goals or objectives:
o To bring citizens and specialized stakeholders closer to how
government action is carried out
o Contributing to combat political disaffection
o To promote institutional learning
o Enhancing democratic quality and public governance
o Contribute to the strengthening of open government values
Government of Spain

¡Thank you!
rendicioncuentas@presidencia.gob.es

Open Government:
About speakers
César Colino
Professor in Universidad Nacional
de Educación a Distancia (UNED)

Open Government:
Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies

Open Government:
INDEX
• I. LAW 27/2022, ON THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF EVALUATION
• II. STATE AGENCY for PUBLIC POLICY EVALUATION

Open Government:
INDEX
• I. LAW 27/2022, ON THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF EVALUATION

Alignment WITH THE OECD’S RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation of the Council
on Public Policy Evaluation by the
OECD
Key elements
Institutionalize public policy evaluation from
a whole of government perspective
Promote the quality of public policy
evaluations
Conduct public policy evaluations that
achieve impact on decision-making
Law for the institutionalization of
public policy evaluation
Key elements
State Agency, Public Policy Evaluation
Coordination Units, General Council
Prior evaluability assessment, Government´s
Strategic Evaluation Plan, Departmental
Evaluation Plans, Evaluation methodologies
Final Evaluation Report, Results Report

Law 27/2022, of December 20, on the
institutionalization of the evaluation of public
policies in the General State Administration
❑ It forms a robust and coherent system for improving the quality, design and evaluation of
public policies.
❑ Structures the public system of evaluation of public policies (institutional organization and
evaluation practice).
❑ Determines evaluation as a tool for collective and organizational learning, for improving
public service, accountability and transparency.
❑ Contributes to the effectiveness and efficiency of public action.

IMPACT OF THE LAW
Cultural change
Essential
characteristics
of evaluation
practice
1st step of the
future strategy to
strengthen the
public evaluation
system
Determination
of objectives
Scope of application:
National Government
and its related or
dependent public bodies.
Improving
public policy,
democracy and
society

State Agency for PUBLIC POLICY Evaluation:
Spain’s new evaluation champion
Part of Spain’s Recovery and Resilience Plan
Expected to be running by late 2023
Central piece of the public system for public policy evaluation
High level of autonomy

State Agency for PUBLIC POLICY Evaluation:
Spain’s new evaluation champion
Aims
• Supervise, coordinate and promote evaluations at the
General State Administration
• Coordinate with other relevant national and
international, public or private, actors in the field
• Ensure a homogeneous quality in the practice of
evaluation
• Promote the culture of evaluation
• Improve the skills and capacities of evaluators within
the public sector
• Carry out evaluations of policies that the Government
considers strategic

Open Government:
Thank you for your attention
• Contact information:
Yolanda.santos@correo.gob.es
instituto.evaluacion@correo.gob.es

Open Government:
ACCOUNTABILITY & PUBLIC INTEGRITY at the core of Open Government
Round Table
ACCOUNTABILITY: Assessment can no longer be an option. The need of Evaluation to Responsible Governments

Open Government:
Question 1
Is it time for evaluation to move beyond
conventional approaches and critically
reevaluate its practices, or should it continue
with “business as usual”?

Open Government:
Question 2
What tools would you highlight to assess
or evaluate the compliance with the
Government’s commitments in Spain?

Open Government:
Question 3
What advantages and disadvantages does
the implementation of the evaluation of
public policies according to your
experience have?

Open Government:
Question 4
What are the main drivers and barriers to
evaluate public policies?

Open Government:
Question 5
How do you think about citizen participation
within the public evaluation system? What
contributions can university or ministerial units
make to enhance it?

Open Government:
Question 6
Looking into the future: what key lesson or
tip from your partnership experience would
you like to share to enhance the need for
accountability in responsible governments?

Open Government:
Thank you ☺
Q&A

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