Description
Local councils in Malta have limited administration powers, leaving much of the country’s management the responsibility of Government. The project will create a set of initiatives, such as a comprehensive training needs analysis, a National Training Strategy, a Leadership Academy Programme, a strategy on innovation and good governance and a European Label of Excellence. These initiatives will strengthen institutional capacity, strengthen people development within local councils and the department responsible for local government, improve the quality and accessibility of services provided and create a professional programme for exchange of personnel. This project will empower local government staff to deliver quality service to local communities while also promoting sustainable localities. The Department for Local Government will team up with the Maltese Local Councils' Association (LCA), the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) and the Council of Europe in reaching the above goals.
Summary of project results
The main aim of this pre-defined project was the development of human resource capacity in public institutions as well as in local and regional authorities, resulting in improving quality services for the communities concerned. Twenty specific objectives were proposed for the implementation of the six strategic goals, ranging from the setting up of a National Training Commission, a National Training Institution and the implementation of proactive measures that can be taken to ameliorate the quality of services provided from local councils to the public. This can be achieved with a proper training structure to all key stakeholders involved, be it a politician or a public officer at national or local level. The Norway Grants funded project created a set of initiatives, such as a comprehensive training needs analysis, a National Training Strategy, a Leadership Academy Programme, a PMP, a strategy on innovation and good governance and finally a European Label of Excellence. Ultimately, all these activities and outputs had one holistic aim i.e. to increase and strengthen cooperation between public institutions, local and regional authorities in Malta and similar institutions and authorities in Norway, which in this project was the KS. This was precisely the outcome that was to be reached at project level and which was actually achieved successfully. Another important outcome of this project is the fact that the participating local councils’ representative were introduced to new thinking about good governance at local level in a very interactive way. A range of training techniques examined the challenges faced by local councils and taught the participants how good leadership can tackle them. Since none of the local councils reached the ELoGE benchmark, the award could not be distributed to any of them. The NFP/PO discussed this matter with the FMO and it was agreed that the source of verification at programme level will be changed to reflect the participation of the local councils for the ELoGE award rather than receiving the award itself. The Local Government Division, together with the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform within the CoE, will organise a number of further training sessions for interested Local Councils in order to better assist them in the compilation of the necessary requirements to be better placed for the ELoGE award. All other indicators related to the project were achieved by the end-date of the project.
Summary of bilateral results
The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS), in Oslo, are committed towards the development of a stronger and more vital local democracy in Norway as well as abroad. Its objective is to support the development of an efficient and independent local government sector that addresses the needs of the inhabitants. It can be said that this project and the Maltese Government have relatively similar objectives and therefore, the sharing of experiences and good practices will undoubtedly give added value to the expected results. In May 2015, 19 participating local councils had the opportunity to participate in a study trip to Oslo and Lunner, where they could acquire first-hand experience on how to establish efficiency networks and management involvement to ensure a successful PMP. They also had the opportunity to evaluate the proposed performance indicators resulting from the pilot project in Malta. During the site visit to the Lunner Municipality, they were also addressed by various Norwegian speakers on topics ranging from local government and ELoGE to user surveys and reporting systems by municipalities to the state, in Norway. Being an active partner in the project with a direct agreement for services, the CoE delivered the majority of services required in the project’s activities, such as the Training Needs Assessment (TNA), the preparation of the National Training Strategy (NTS), the Leadership Academy Programme, a PMP as well as the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level. The fact that the majority of this project’s activities were entrusted to this highly reputable institution reduced the risk of having multiple tenders on the market, each possibly presenting procurement-related difficulties along the course of the project timeline.