Decentralising public administration should better meet citizens’ expectations of the standard of taxpayer financed services they believe is their right to have. Local councils have now been in existence for more than 30 years. Still, there is undeniable evidence that many local and regional councils are not performing as well as they should.
A study by the Faculty for Social Well-being on how southern region residents judge the performance of their councils is revealing. The findings of this study are just as applicable and relevant to most other regions of the country.
The most noteworthy finding is that only slightly more than a third of respondents said they were satisfied with their local council. Less than a third were aware of councillors’ role and often expected services from the local councils beyond their administrative remit.
It is time to ask why taxpayer-financed local government is underperforming and what must be done to give citizens a better value for the money spent on local councils.
Many of the gripes and frustration that residents must deal with relate to country-wide problems that are not being addressed with sufficient determination and competence by the central government.
Respondents in this survey highlighted problems like excessive traffic, parking problems, noise and air pollution and inadequate public and green spaces. Waste management and road infrastructure failures are two other areas that fall under the responsibility of the central government, even if many residents still believe these are the local councils’ responsibility.
It is becoming clear that the local councils’ framework is too fragmented, with small localities having insufficient human and financial resources to manage the different public services. Still, it is a worrying reality that, over the past decade, local councils have been reduced to little more than public relations offices for the various government ministries.
The report made a recommendation for a policy reform that would allow mayors to hold office on a full-time basis. This is unlikely to make much difference. Similarly, the recent policy decision to allow 16-year-old elected councillors to serve as mayors will hardly help to optimise the performance of councils.
Throwing money at the problem of local councils’ underperformance will not resolve the issue unless root and branch reform is undertaken. Local councils need more authority to address residents’ concerns rather than act as a complaints hub for frustrated citizens or rubberstamping their applications. It is no wonder that fewer individuals are interesting in contesting local elections.
It may be expedient to transfer some of the functions of local councils to regional councils to optimise the limited qualified human resources.
Malta is becoming increasingly multi-ethnical, creating new challenges for local government. Councillors need to be trained to deal with the cultural impact of this phenomenon on the community they serve.
However, local government can only optimise its potential to serve an increasingly diverse community if the central government embarks on a devolution of power through which local and regional councils will be empowered and given resources.
The local council elections in June will be another litmus test of the credibility that the local government has with the community. It is futile to blame ordinary citizens’ lack of civic pride and community participation for their poor perception of the performance of local and regional councils.
The central government must engage in a soul-searching exercise with councillors and ordinary citizens to develop a new blueprint to upgrade community services through local and regional councils.