Call me clairvoyant, but the Balearic Government's rationalisation of its so-called "companies" is to bring about a merger between Inestur and IBATUR, two tourism agencies which have, since the former was established seven years ago, duplicated much effort. It is hardly public administration rocket science to appreciate that there is no point in having two agencies. A question should be, though, why there ever were two; why Inestur was ever formed. Its main purpose seems to have been as a conduit for siphoning off public funds into the coffers of the Unió Mallorquina party - allegedly.
The rationalisation affects at least a half of these companies, of which there are - get this - 169. What on earth are they all and what on earth do they all do? Add them into the various levels of government in Mallorca, and you complete the picture of the insanity of the public sector for an island with under a million people (or a couple of hundred thousand over a million, if you lump in the whole of the Balearics). But in announcing the rationalisation, President Antich has said that jobs are not to be affected. Why ever not? Simple. It would be politically unacceptable and would merely add to the unemployment burden. Were these "real" companies, however, with "real" shareholders, mergers would lead to job losses. What savings are truly going to be achieved by maintaining jobs that will still duplicate effort? The turf wars that will result from these mergers would be the stuff of dreams for a management researcher studying cultures in combined businesses; they are a recipe for unproductive behaviour and organisation.
There are all manner of suggestions and observations flying around as to this rationalisation process. "The Bulletin", commenting on the fact that the agriculture and fisheries ministry is to be swallowed up by the office of the presidency, asks why such a ministry is needed. Agriculture is far less important than it once was, but it still is important to Mallorca. Potato exports, almonds, wine, the traditional subsistence crops such as cabbage; they are hardly unimportant. And if one takes the words of those "gurus" from a few days back, agriculture should be something of the back to the future for the Mallorcan economy. No, there probably is a need for such a ministry, if, that is, one believes agriculture to be of strategic significance, like tourism.
Strategic. That is something missing in all this. A suggestion from the left-wing Bloc is that the tourism and transport ministries at government level should be scrapped and responsibilities handed over to the island councils, such as the Council of Mallorca. Why stop at these? Why not hand all ministries over to the councils and get rid of the regional government? It's the reverse take on my belief that it is the councils which should go, a move that would make a genuine saving in public spending.
It is the lack of strategic thinking that is worrying. The government is casting around, looking for anything it can to be the target of a short-term fix. Which is not to say that there isn't some sense to merging pointless agencies ("companies"). But the pressing need is for a thorough strategic review - from top to bottom - of the whole system of public administration, which is probably why it won't happen.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Showing posts with label Adjustment and austerity measures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adjustment and austerity measures. Show all posts
Friday, June 04, 2010
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Window-Dressing: The Balearic Government's adjustment measures
The local "austerity" and "adjustment" measures are taking shape. The regional government will raise income tax for high earners, but it is opposing the central government's move to prevent town halls getting into greater debt. Ministries at regional level are to be further rationalised, this time as a means of saving money as opposed to being a political expedient (as was the case with the combining of transport and environment). These measures come on top of the increase in IVA (VAT) which is due to kick in from 1 July. The opposition Partido Popular is, as you might expect, against the income tax rise and the ministry rationalisation. So much for any consensus for getting Mallorca and the Balearic out of their current mess.
Changes at government level, scrapping specific ministries for agriculture and work, can be seen as either window-dressing or sensible. The office of the president will assume responsibility for agriculture, and work will be combined with tourism, a justification for the latter being that as tourism is the main generator of employment then it makes sense to bring them together. Up to a point, the government has a point. But does getting away with a couple of ministers really amount to much? There will still, presumably, be civil servants to support the combined ministries. That President Antich is holding out for the town halls to still be able to mount up debt just adds to what I would say is in fact window-dressing. If there is to be rationalisation at governmental level - at all governmental levels - then it needs to be more savage. The question would be, what?
I am, as you might be aware, unconvinced as to the necessity for the Council of Mallorca, but this would be most unlikely to be either rationalised dramatically or scrapped altogether. There have been suggestions that local municipalities should be merged. This might reduce all the duplication, but it would be politically (and socially) impossible. The towns are historical entities, and the notion of local representation is long; even during Franco's time it remained. Putting towns together would only create the potential for alienation which already exists, as in, for example, Puerto Pollensa. It is the functions at town hall level that need addressing, not the number of town halls.
The regional government is also looking at the role and the funding of some of its agencies or "companies", as they are called. One such is Inestur, the tourism strategy institute at the heart of the massive corruption scandal that led to Unió Mallorquina ministers being booted out of the coalition. There are other such companies. But what do they do? In Inestur's case, it serves different roles - one is promotion of aspects of tourism to tourists. Why? There are other agencies doing the same thing, such as IBATUR, which is the tourism board, and not to be confused with the essentially private Fomento del Turismo (otherwise known as the tourism board). Confusing, huh? Confusing and seemingly duplicating. Inestur also acts in a research capacity, which is rather more acceptable a purpose. However, when you consider what it provides, e.g. library facilities, archives, etc., you do have to wonder why this can't be rolled into efforts at the university's tourism department, which provides a similar function.
Yesterday, I sent an email to Inestur. Why? To tell them that I have a project in mind that would be aimed at tourism promotion of Mallorca overseas and to ask if it would be possible to make an appointment so that I could come and explain it in greater detail and to discuss possible assistance or collaboration. They may well have read the word "ayuda" (meaning help or assistance) and thought "money". That wasn't what I had in mind (well not necessarily). And the project is not another tourism website; it's something completely different and unique, not aimed at tourists as such. Whatever. I have had no response. Maybe they will respond, but I'm not holding my breath.
But rather as tourism promotion as a whole is, or should be, a collaboration between public and private sectors - as evidenced by the very existence of the Fomento - so I'm raising the possibility of just such a collaboration. Greater involvement by the private sector is just one way that the government can trim its costs. But more fundamental is the need for a root-and-branch study of the system of public administration in Mallorca. Chopping a couple of ministries does not amount to this; it is window-dressing.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Changes at government level, scrapping specific ministries for agriculture and work, can be seen as either window-dressing or sensible. The office of the president will assume responsibility for agriculture, and work will be combined with tourism, a justification for the latter being that as tourism is the main generator of employment then it makes sense to bring them together. Up to a point, the government has a point. But does getting away with a couple of ministers really amount to much? There will still, presumably, be civil servants to support the combined ministries. That President Antich is holding out for the town halls to still be able to mount up debt just adds to what I would say is in fact window-dressing. If there is to be rationalisation at governmental level - at all governmental levels - then it needs to be more savage. The question would be, what?
I am, as you might be aware, unconvinced as to the necessity for the Council of Mallorca, but this would be most unlikely to be either rationalised dramatically or scrapped altogether. There have been suggestions that local municipalities should be merged. This might reduce all the duplication, but it would be politically (and socially) impossible. The towns are historical entities, and the notion of local representation is long; even during Franco's time it remained. Putting towns together would only create the potential for alienation which already exists, as in, for example, Puerto Pollensa. It is the functions at town hall level that need addressing, not the number of town halls.
The regional government is also looking at the role and the funding of some of its agencies or "companies", as they are called. One such is Inestur, the tourism strategy institute at the heart of the massive corruption scandal that led to Unió Mallorquina ministers being booted out of the coalition. There are other such companies. But what do they do? In Inestur's case, it serves different roles - one is promotion of aspects of tourism to tourists. Why? There are other agencies doing the same thing, such as IBATUR, which is the tourism board, and not to be confused with the essentially private Fomento del Turismo (otherwise known as the tourism board). Confusing, huh? Confusing and seemingly duplicating. Inestur also acts in a research capacity, which is rather more acceptable a purpose. However, when you consider what it provides, e.g. library facilities, archives, etc., you do have to wonder why this can't be rolled into efforts at the university's tourism department, which provides a similar function.
Yesterday, I sent an email to Inestur. Why? To tell them that I have a project in mind that would be aimed at tourism promotion of Mallorca overseas and to ask if it would be possible to make an appointment so that I could come and explain it in greater detail and to discuss possible assistance or collaboration. They may well have read the word "ayuda" (meaning help or assistance) and thought "money". That wasn't what I had in mind (well not necessarily). And the project is not another tourism website; it's something completely different and unique, not aimed at tourists as such. Whatever. I have had no response. Maybe they will respond, but I'm not holding my breath.
But rather as tourism promotion as a whole is, or should be, a collaboration between public and private sectors - as evidenced by the very existence of the Fomento - so I'm raising the possibility of just such a collaboration. Greater involvement by the private sector is just one way that the government can trim its costs. But more fundamental is the need for a root-and-branch study of the system of public administration in Mallorca. Chopping a couple of ministries does not amount to this; it is window-dressing.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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