Statement to the Storting on Administration Policy

Historisk arkiv

Publisert under: Regjeringen Brundtland III

Utgiver: Administrasjonsdepartementet

Tale/innlegg | Dato: 27.02.1996

Minister of Government Administration Nils Olav Totland

Statement to the Storting on

Administration Policy

The Storting, 27 February 1996

Madam President,

The overall objective of the Government, as stated in the Long-term Programme for 1993-1997 is to create "a safer, more equitable society with employment for all and a better quality of life for each individual."

This basic objective is founded on the underlying social democratic principles of liberty, equality and solidarity. It provides the foundation for determining political priorities. However, policy is not devised in a vacuum. Major trends in development set the parameters and lay the premises for the further development of society and the political choices that are made. Three key developments in this context are the process of internationalization, the emergence of the high-technology information society and changes in the population structure.

Today's situation is one in which all the political parties would do well to heed the words of Einar Gerhardsen, who wrote the following in his book Unge år (The Young Years): " ...One of the pivotal tasks of a political party is to be able to adapt its policies to the time at hand.... The objectives and the basic principles may remain the same. It is the practical policies that one must try to tailor to the situation prevailing at any given time...". (p. 287).

Many areas of our society are undergoing sweeping, rapid-paced change. In many cases, the exclusive right of the government authorities to provide solutions to tasks has been made superfluous as a result of increasing internationalization and advances in technology. Internationalization leads to the dismantling of trade barriers and greater competition. The basis for the governance of society is changing. We are applying instruments such as international regulations and national legislation and concessions schemes in areas which up to now have been served by public monopolies.

At the same time, increased competition, the implementation of information technology, and new management techniques and forms of association will help us to use our resources more effectively. Resources can be focused more directly on high priority areas, such as education, health, care and environmental protection.

One of the main challenges facing the public sector is to respond to the changes taking place in society by designing new strategies to deal with them. The efficacy of the instruments of the welfare state has become the subject of debate. Our challenge is to find instruments that reach and assist those who need them the most, in a situation where most of the people of Norway enjoy a good standard of living.

A strong public administration is an important tool for ensuring both equal distribution and democratic development. We need a public administration that is user-oriented and quality-conscious; that is adaptable and provides a foundation for economic growth in the private and public sectors alike; that is subject to political control and efficiently run. The essence of administration policy is to provide direction for and substance to the measures needed for improvement and restructuring. At the same time, we must not lose sight of the long-term goals and principles of the public administration. The public administration must act consistently, must ensure equal treatment, openness and transparency, must give all parties the opportunity to be heard in the decision-making process, must facilitate the participation of both women and men in society, and must enable employees to participate in decisions involving the workplace. In short, the public administration must be rooted in democratic values and the rule of law, as manifested in the way it is organized, in its legislation, and in its day-to-day activities.

In this context it is natural to draw attention to the principle of public access to information and the need for greater knowledge regarding the Freedom of Information Act and the prerequisites for increased transparency. Internal training and exchange of experience will be used to sustain a high level of awareness of the significance of these issues. I refer you to the coming report to the Storting on the principle of public access to information.

2 A user-oriented, quality-conscious public administration

Today, the individual members of society have contact with the public sector in a broad range of areas. State and municipal services play a central role in the welfare of the individual. This means that the public's view of the public sector is largely determined by the quantity and quality of the services provided. We are pleased to note that, according to recent surveys, users who have had direct contact with a government agency are more satisfied with the public sector than individuals who have had no such contact. This would indicate that the public administration is better than its reputation, and I would like to take this opportunity, Madam President, to emphasize that the public administration in Norway is well-run.

However, there will always be room for improvement. We must continue to strive to make the public administration more responsive to the assessments and requirements of its users. A number of government agencies, including the labour market administration and the tax administration, are making a systematic effort to enhance their services and improve their user orientation. The Norwegian Central Information Service is also working to improve the quality of the information circulated by the public administration to external users.

In the user programme designed by the Ministry of Government Administration, necessary improvements are presumed to be the responsibility of the government agencies themselves. Thus, individual trial projects have not been implemented. The ministry's task is to work to generate a greater awareness of user needs and a greater understanding of the importance of improving quality throughout the public administration. In addition, the ministry is taking part in efforts to develop new means of improving services in government agencies and establish a network for the exchange of information.

In concrete terms, the public administration is now attaching greater importance to user surveys. The individual agencies need to know who their users are, how their users assess the services available and what needs to be done differently. This will enable the agencies to set quality objectives, which can be compiled in a set of service specifications detailing which services an agency considers itself obliged to provide, and which services the users cannot necessarily expect to find. Such specifications may include time needed for administrative processing, information about administrative procedures, complaints procedures and other elements related to the direct contact between government agencies and users.

The various agencies must also learn to make systematic use of their experience and must incorporate the knowledge made available by research and development efforts. This is particularly important in a modern public administration, where large-scale, costly projects often need to be implemented over a relatively short period of time. In this context it is essential that there be routines and systems and - not least - an orientation within the overall organizational framework towards developing skills and improvement. It is often necessary to challenge established truths regarding the definition of problems and solutions and the delegation of responsibility in order to find a new direction.

Government service offices to increase user orientation

I would like to dwell for a moment on the trial project involving government service offices initiated by the Government in 1992. The aim was to coordinate local and central government services from a variety of sectors through a single joint office. Our goal has been to improve the availability and quality of services, to maintain local services at similar levels from one place to another, to achieve optimal utilization of resources and to promote viable local communities.

Although this project originally met with much scepticism, the results clearly show that it has been a success. The various government services involved, including the tax assessment office, social security office, employment office, post office and municipal services such as technical services and the social welfare office, have succeeded in coordinating a number of their services.

The municipalities and government agencies that have not participated in the trial project have received regular progress reports. The project will be reviewed and assessed when it is concluded at the end of 1996. Thus far, a major user survey indicates that the new concept is well known and has been well-received. Over half of the population of the areas involved have had contact with the government service office in their area. In particular users have emphasized the advantage of being able to deal with so many matters under one roof and being able to meet with administrative officers who are well-informed and have a good overall view. The government service offices have also been testing systems for providing contact with other public services through the utilization of video and information technology.

However, the project has also provided other insights. The process of redefining the boundaries and distribution of tasks between sectors is a demanding one, requiring time and resources. Thus, it is important to assess how this process can be facilitated, and how this experience can be applied to other areas.

IT-based solutions for the business sector and general public

Another aspect of user orientation involves establishing simpler reporting arrangements for the business sector. The Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities has now been established, and a database over reporting requirements is being prepared. Together with an accompanying coordinating body, this register is intended to prevent double registration, ensure the reuse of data, initiate changes in regulations and assist government agencies in designing new reporting requirements. A central aim is to establish an effective flow of information between the public administration and the business sector, by means of electronic data interchange among other things. This may help to increase the competitiveness of Norwegian trade and industry in relation to other countries.

Information technology can also be used to facilitate communication across traditional organizational boundaries. This will enable the public administration to provide more uniform services to users regardless of the overlying administrative organization. Moreover, this technology should be used to make the public administration more accessible than has previously been the case. For example, open documents can now be made available to the public far more easily. The Government's electronic information database ODIN has been available on the Internet since August 1995. ODIN (the database for public documentation and information in Norway) provides the general public with access to speeches, press releases and publications issued by the Government and the ministries.

It is vital that the use of information technology in the public administration be designed for the users, not for the computer experts. When evaluating the implementation of information technology for disseminating information to the public, we must ask ourselves which users can we reach through these channels, and which users do we miss. In order to achieve the goal of making public information available to everyone, the central and local government administration must utilize a wide variety of information techniques and channels.

Generally speaking, information technology should be systematically used to facilitate communication between the public administration and the users. At this juncture I would like to remind you that one of the basic principles of our national information policy states that the public administration and the users shall in so far as possible be considered equal parties in the communication process. We can take this even further, and view the use of information technology in terms of its contribution to democracy, where it provides new opportunities for access and dialogue by means of electronic communication. Eventually, ODIN may provide a new channel of communication from the public to the ministries. However, we must not allow these exciting prospects to create a new set of class or gender divisions in our society, as large segments of the population currently do not have the necessary knowledge of or access to these emerging electronic tools.

3. An efficient public administration

In addition to the focus on user needs, it is important that the public administration also be concerned with efficiency. This must be viewed in the light of the challenges currently facing the welfare state. Although Norway's national economic situation is good today, pressures are expected to mount in the future. Oil revenues will decline and the demands of an ageing population will lead to increased public transfers and a greater need for public services, particularly in the health and welfare sector. This will in turn require a different set of priorities with regard to public budgets, and may lead to greater focus on reducing public expenditures, as has been the case in some of our neighbouring countries.

We may find ourselves in a situation where "the role of the public sector becomes different and stronger", to quote the Labour Party platform. In this context it is important to take a close look at how the public administration actually works. The public administration deals with an increasing number of tasks and provides a growing number of services. The Norwegian public administration can already be described as quality-conscious and efficient. Nonetheless, we must continue to renew the public sector in order to keep pace with developments in society in general.

New framework conditions for efficiency and control

Traditional methods of public control and use of policy instruments must be adapted to new, challenging framework conditions, not least as a result of Norway's open economy and international participation in fora such as the EEA and the World Trade Organization.

We have become accustomed to a situation in which government agencies provide services within many sectors. Governance is exercised by means of direct instructions to these agencies. However, as a result of internationalization and advances in technology, public services in many areas are now subjected to the forces of competition, and must conform to the same rules and parameters as members of the private sector. The telecommunications sector is perhaps the clearest example of this.

There are two means of dealing with this trend. The first is to give the agency in question the powers of authority and framework conditions that are appropriate to a competitive environment. If we do not do this, we pull the rug out from under the activities of the central government. In some cases, this will mean cutting the ties to the public administration, i.e. restructuring in the form of a state-owned stock company or state enterprise, where the central government remains the owner, and management is an integral part of ownership rights.

The second is by creating a stronger statutory framework by means of acts of legislation, regulations and concessions. We must create the framework and conditions for the market, thus ensuring that it functions effectively and can safeguard the interests of society to the greatest possible degree.

Even if we use both these means actively, we must remain aware that ownershipmanagement involves the state as a market player, whereas the devising and application of regulations and concession schemes signalizes the role of the state as a regulatory authority. These two roles must be kept separate from one another, or there will be speculation as to whether the state as a regulatory authority is showing favouritism to its own ownership positions.

The Government wishes to emphasize that the transition from direct instruction of government agencies to ownership management and regulation does not imply that we wish to reduse government involvement. On the contrary, it is the Government's wish to maintain effective governance. However, due to changes in the external framework, political control must be organized in a different manner from before. And if we look closely at the restructuring that has taken place, for example the new markets for energy, telecommunications services, civil aviation and pharmaceutical products, we can see that these changes have brought about positive results in the form of lower prices and better use of resources.

Performance management as a tool to aid restructuring and improve efficiency

For some time, the Government has emphasized the role of performance management as an aid to restructuring and a means of enhancing the utilization of resources. In recent years, the ministries have invested considerable resources in improving the application of performance management techniques in their respective areas.

The introduction of new budget regulations for the central government will coordinate and consolidate the measures that have been developed in this field during the 1980s and 90s. These regulations are based on the obligation to identify goals beforehand and to report on targets that have been achieved afterwards. Let me add that the principles of identifying goals, performance monitoring and evaluation must also be incorporated into government grant schemes.

The introduction of the new budget regulations will pose a challenge in that performance management must be adapted specifically to the tasks and nature of the individual agency. Previous experience shows that such differentiation is essential if the work of the individual agency is to become genuinely result-oriented.

Increased efficiency through coordination of public procurements

The Government's programme for coordination of government procurements has the potential to increase efficiency substantially. Since the programme was initiated in 1994, some 30 projects have been implemented. In one of these projects it was estimated that the central government could save over NOK 100 million annually by coordinating the purchase, operation and maintenance of motor vehicles. Based on these conclusions, the national insurance administration negotiated a new contract with car dealers at a savings of NOK 30 million per year. Other results have been achieved through measures to enhance the expertise of central government procurement officers.

A public sector that assumes the role of an efficient, demanding customer will in turn encourage supplier development. The procurement programme has focused on projects that will help to create a more competitive Norwegian business sector, within the constraints posed by the regulations for public procurements.

Increased efficiency through the use of information technology

The use of information technology also contains a vast potential for increasing the efficiency of the work carried out by the public administration. A specially-appointed state secretary committee has now completed a report on IT policy. One of the main conclusions of the report is that the public sector must play an active role in the development of information technology, vis-à-vis both the public administration and society at large. This report has been circulated to municipalities, counties, government agencies, ministries, political parties, employers' and employees' organizations, non-governmental organizations and operators in the IT and telecommunications sector with an invitation to submit their comments by 1 May 1996. It is the Government's hope that this report will provide the starting point for an open debate on Norway's future IT policy.

Cooperation on the establishment of a joint data network has been an important priority area for the public sector as a whole. At the central government level, a joint network has already been established for the ministries, and on 1 March a similar network for the regional administration will be opened via the county governors' offices. Even more important than these networks, however, are the joint access and shared solutions these networks make possible, including facilities such as electronic mail services and simplified reporting procedures between central government and municipal agencies. Herein lies the key to the successful integration of information technology in the public sector.

In general, the use of information technology promotes more cross-sectoral, cooperative work procedures than previously. Up to now, each employee has worked within a clearly defined sphere of responsibility, with instructions to document all forms of external communication. A situation in which information flows unchecked in all directions poses a challenge to the public administration's traditional bureaucratic procedures. We must clarify how we can continue to ensure equal treatment and protection of the individual, fulfil documentation needs and safeguard the right of access to information in this new situation. Electronic administrative processing also raises questions regarding security. These elements all serve to illustrate the fact that efficiency measures are more than merely a matter of know-how and technology. They also involve values and policies.

The utilization of information technology is not a matter for each individual sector alone. If each agency were allowed to develop its own solutions, the overall effect is likely to be inefficient for the individual users as well as the public administration as a whole. Thus, it is essential that someone be made responsible for overseeing the development of necessary joint IT solutions for the public administration.

The Ministry of Government Administration intends to strengthen its coordinating role in the sphere of information technology, particularly with a view to developing joint IT strategies, standardization, network configuration and joint user support. Recently, certain large-scale computer-related investments in the public sector have been the focus of considerable attention. And our experience thus far has both shown us how cost-efficient computer technology can be, and reminded us how difficult a task it is to plan and implement the use of information technology. It is important that services to provide expert assistance in this field be further developed. However, Madam President, I would like to underline the fact that the optimal utilization of technology in administrative tasks must remaina line responsibility within the framework supplied by overall coordination. It is within the individual agency and ministry that the greatest effort must be made.

4 Well organized public services

This brings me to the organization of the public administration. According to a survey carried out by the Directorate of Public Management, more than 600 reorganizations were submitted to the Storting in the years between 1985-1995. In the course of the 1994-95 parliamentary session alone, there were approximately 180 such cases, several of which involved more than one agency. Although not all of these matters involved large-scale reorganization, these number clearly signify the extent of the effort to streamline the public administration.

The challenges we are facing in this area are related to two dimensions in the structure of the public administration. First, there is the vertical dimension, which applies to the relationship between subordinate and superior bodies, as between the ministries and their subordinate agencies. Key topics in this dimension include management of subordinate agencies and changes in form of association. The other dimension is the horizontal one, which applies to relationships across ministerial spheres of responsibility and between individual sectors. Here, key topics include coherence and coordination.

The government service offices I have mentioned earlier in this statement are an example of expanded coordination in the horizontal dimension. The surveys conducted by the Directorate of Public Management show that organizational changes along this horizontal axis are relatively few. At the same time, we are facing a growing number of problems and sources of problems that extend across several sectors, and we have target groups that are no longer as easily defined.

All of this makes it clear that we must find ways of improving cooperation and communication across the various spheres of responsibility. Modern technology will certainly help to make this possible. However, at the same time, the organization of the central government administration must clearly reflect the management structures and delegation of responsibility between superior and subordinate bodies. It is crucial to ensure that ministers are given authority that corresponds to their ministerial responsibilities. We must therefore seek to find organizational structures and work methods that supplement, but do not replace the vertical dimension.

5 Good management in the public administration

Management in the central government is facing a number of challenges. In today's administration, the traditional senior civil servant role in which authority is laid down in legislation and job descriptions are clearly defined is no longer adequate. This applies particularly to management in the role of employer.

Management in the central government must be able to utilize information as a tool, and government information policy stipulates that information is a line responsibility and a management responsibility. This means that all levels of management are responsible for assessing information on a par with other instruments as a means of reaching the goals which have been set.

The broad scope of the public sector is yet another reason to emphasize the responsibility for ensuring coherence that rests with all levels of management in the central government administration. The public is seeking accessibility and quality, and is not particularly concerned with whether a service is being supplied by a central government or municipal agency. Nor must we lose sight of the fact that one of the main responsibilities of management involves identifying the need for restructuring within the individual sectors. In this context, I would like to point out that unless there is active communication between management, employees and their respective organizations, it will be impossible to create an atmosphere of trust in which the necessary decisions can be taken. The success of any restructuring process will depend on this. The Basic Agreement for central government employees lays the foundation for the active participation and co-determination that are so crucial to achieving good results.

The Government wishes to lead the way when it comes to pursuing a sound employer policy. Of great importance in this context is the obligation to ensure equal opportunities for men and women. Tasks in this area include increasing the proportion of women in senior management positions in the central government. And the Government has taken concrete steps to promote equal pay for central government employees as part of the effort to achieve genuine gender equality in working life. According to our prognoses, growth in annual wages for central government employees from 1994 to 1995 was 3.5 per cent for women and 2.8 per cent for men. We will continue to pursue this policy.

6 A skilled, adaptable civil service

The need for efficiency measures and new forms of management and association means that public agencies and their staffs must be prepared to face restructuring. It has been a priority for the Government to deal with restructuring without having to resort to dismissals. Up to now, we have been largely successful in this endeavour. But job security must not be perceived as a shield against change. The Government's pledge to provide security is more than an expression of employer responsibility. It should also indicate to each employee that he or she must be prepared for the possibility of change. The ability and willingness of each employee to be responsible for developing his or her own expertise, in cooperation with employers, will provide the greatest security in the long run. The efforts of the Labour Party and the Government to pave the way for education and life-long learning are important in this context, in the public and private sectors alike.

Internal measures such as re-training and transfers of redundant personnel within the individual public agency can help to prevent staff reductions in the event of restructuring. In situations where staff reductions have been necessary, human resource development measures have been targeted either towards the needs of other central government or municipal agencies or towards enhancing the individual employee's skills. During the past year, the Ministry of Government Administration has initiated an effort to encourage central government employers to work together at the local level to solve these challenges. Regional networks between the various government agencies is now being established under the auspices of the county governors' offices.

I would like to make special mention of a trial project in which 100 redundant personnel from the Armed Forces were transferred to the law enforcement sector. This personnel has been given new tasks, for example assisting in prison workshops and in clerical positions in prison probation services. At the offices of the rural police, redundant personnel has been used to fill clerical positions, thus freeing more resources to work directly with police tasks. The Ministry of Justice assessed the financial and practical aspects of this project directly after it was implemented in 1995. The Ministry of Government Administration has decided to carry out another evaluation during the summer of 1996, to assess personnel-related aspects of the project. This type of transfer, which benefits from the state's position as a large-scale employer, is based on the assumption that there will be growth in areas which redundant personnel can fill. However, it is often a problem that the skills needed in the new positions do not correspond to the qualifications possessed by the personnel involved.

Expertise is and will remain a decisive factor if the public administration as a whole and each individual employee is to succeed in meeting the new challenges and providing good services to users. The Ministry of Government Administration is therefore focusing its efforts on encouraging human resource development throughout the public administration. The ministry has drawn up a strategy that emphasizes the need to tie human resource development more closely to the goals and challenges of the various agencies.

Furthermore, we are working to strengthen vocational training programmes, both in order to fulfil the obligations of the public administration in connection with Reform '94, and to encourage government agencies to take advantage of the potential inherent in broad-based training as set out in the Act relating to Vocational Training. A greater focus on vocational training is also a means of increasing expertise. More broad-based training programmes will also help employees become better able to meet the challenges of restructuring, and promote greater mobility and flexibility.

The central government must be prepared to face the challenges of restructuring for many years to come. We are therefore already evaluating new models for addressing the challenges of the future. More generally, we must devise a more long-term policy for mobility. For the central government, this entails charting out a fundamentally new course. We must move from a situation in which employees spend their entire working lives at one workplace, often in the same job, to a situation in which moving from job to job becomes the norm. This is the trend we are already seeing today.

7 Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to point out that the reforms of the last decade have primarily been targeted towards management and organization within each ministerial sector. In the coming phase, I see the need to strengthen our cross-sectoral perspective.

Generally speaking, the task of devising and implementing administration policy will become more and more demanding in the years ahead. We must consolidate the restructuring that has taken place up to now, and we must contribute to and encourage the processes that are under way, utilize the experience gained and lay the foundation for the continuation of a strong public administration. In addition, in dealing with the restructuring process, we must keep the basic values of the public administration clearly in mind.

A particularly important challenge involves how we best can utilize information technology, not only to increase efficiency, but also to improve contact with users. Another demanding task will be to find ways to sustain and further develop our capacity for effective governance.

Administration policy is the responsibility of the Minister of Government Administration. At the same time, however, it is a responsibility shared by all of us, because all the various policy areas are dependent on an administration structure that functions well as a tool for preparing policy decisions and translating policies into action. Viewed in this perspective, administration policy is also a line responsibility.

The technological revolution, internationalization and the emergence of the new, industrial society will have ramifications for our employment policy, health policy, educational policy, and the very foundation of our welfare society. In this situation, the public sector must play a different, stronger role. The future development of the welfare state depends in no small way on the ability of the public administration to renew itself in keeping with new requirements and needs. The Government's administration policy has been designed to ensure that Norway can adapt to meet the future.

Twenty years ago, Trygve Bratteli described the welfare state as follows: " The welfare state comprises new, wide-ranging social and economic schemes that allow individual helplessness to be replaced by a system of communal responsibility, based on mutual rights and obligations. But more than this, it carries forward the traditions of the inviolability of men and women, the rule of law and political freedom. And it adds new dimensions to legal and democratic rights in order to meet these needs. The welfare state is the sum of these economic, social, legal and political rights."

In my opinion, this is a good definition of the welfare state. And it highlights an essential element of the administration policy of the Labour Party since the end of World War II: that established schemes, institutions and systems ultimately are only the means to an end, and not an end in themselves. They must be able to be adapted and reorganized in response to new needs. What remains constant are the overriding goals, such as the responsibility of the public administration to contribute to full employment, social equalization, welfare and security.

If we are to succeed in maintaining and further developing these rights in a time when the parameters for our society are undergoing rapid change, it is crucial that we have an adaptable, well-functioning public administration. Madam President, we must remain concerned with finding practical policy solutions that will enable the public administration to deal with priority tasks and achieve our goal of a safer, more just society.

Lagt inn 31 mai 1996 av Statens forvaltningstjeneste, ODIN-redaksjonen