United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

Stara Zagora Government Administrative Centre was founded in February 1999 by Government Decree № 431 / 23.11.1998 .The Constitution of Bulgarian Republic designates district government centre as an administrative territorial unit which pursues regional policy, carries out the state government policy in different regions and assures coordination between national and local interests. Stara Zagora district covers an area of 5151 sq. km, which is 4,6% of the country’s area.4,7 % of the Bulgarian population live in the region. There are 11 Municipalities in its territory.
An executive body of the authority in the district is the Governor, who carries out the state policy in the district ,coordinates the work of the executive bodies and their administrations in the territory of the district; ensures correspondence between the national and local interests, organizes the elaboration and fulfillment of the government policy and programs for regional development, carries out interaction with the local bodies’ self-government and local administration, charges for the safeguarding and protection of the state property on the territory of the region; ensures the observing of the legality on the territory of the region, coordinates and controls the activities of the territorial bodies of the ministries and the other administrative structures, which realize the administrative service on the territory of the region.
In realizing his deeds the Governor is supported by his deputies and the district administration. According to their activities the administrative sections in the district administration are differentiated into general and specialized administration.
The general administration technically ensures the Governor’s deeds, the specialized administration activities and the administrative activities in citizen and legal entity service. It is organized as Administrative-legal Service, Finance and Property Administration Department.
The specialized administration –Administrative Control, Regional Development and State Property Department supports and ensures the realization of the Governor’s rights.
The administrative service of natural and juridical people in Stara Zagora District Administration is done legally, with the policy of openness, full and generally accessible information for all the types of administrative service, the essence of the administrative procedures; dead lines; the necessary documentation; the rights of the potential consumers in the service process; the opportunities for their legal rights protection and interests in the cases of officials’ violation, administrative service refusal or bad administration.
In offering of the administrative service the officials in Stara Zagora District Administration respect the consumers and are open to all their needs, as special attention is paid to vulnerable social groups. We have created equal right conditions in the inspected cases for all the consumers of administrative service and availability of service of all the citizens and juridical people disregarding their ethnic group, religion, sex, education, age, social status, physical or mental disability, etc.
The administrative service is realized in conditions of coordination and interaction between the administrative groups and the officials of Stara Zagora District Administration; common and functional control of the service process and the service quality.
The administrative service is realized on the basis of communication and feed-back information about administrative service quality and the degree of contentment of the consumers through a built-up measurement and reading system .

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
The efficiency of the administrative service has been improved by introducing of AKSTER OFFICE electronic system for registering and control of the documentation turnover. It assures the unified processing of the officials’ operation, supports the administration and helps to control the accurate and timely disposal of the public service. There is one place for free access to administrative services-Information and Secretary Desk. There is an easy access for all the administrative service consumers. It includes admission and registration of the applications for administrative service; checking of the presence of the required documents for the according administrative service and the completing of the correspondence in accordance with the developed and established procedures and regulations; consumers’ disposal of administrative service, of application forms for this service; giving information about administrative service procedures; the necessary documentation ;the inner process of the proceedings; the dates for receiving an answer; channels for access to specialized information. А schedule for feed- back information from the consumers is developed through which the quality of the administrative service and the access to the service and information are monitored. Also some informal mechanisms are used to study the consumer’s opinion for encouragement of their participation in the development in mechanisms and administrative service procedures as full members in administrative process, according to their expectations and needs. A developed procedure for registration, analysis and making moves upon the complaints about bad administration is put into practice. The order for handing, revising and replying to these complaints and the mechanisms for the elimination of bad administration are regulated in it. Inner work organization and inner organization service standards are created, signed in The Client’s Charter. Together with the traditional channels for service and information access an electronic regional gate for available governmental and municipal administrative service is in function. The information about all the functioning services and printable forms are available in the web site of Stara Zagora District administration. We have introduced a system for measurement and analysis of the service consumption through different access channels according to the client’s profile. We have created an administrative service improvement policy, a plan for its fulfillment, inner regulations for the reporting on the quality of the available service and the degree of consumers’ contentedness, and inner regulations for measurement and reporting on the consumption of service. We regularly announce the results through different communicative means. Our government officials demonstrate motivation and sympathy in giving quality and efficient administrative services. We analyze and plan the needs for study training and career development of our government officials. Our government officials use formal procedure for opinions and commenting and actively take part in the optimizing of service. Our administration develops and puts into practice a policy oriented to contentedness of the consumers’ needs through planning the aims, drawing the related activities and duties for their fulfillment . A continuous process for optimizing of administrative service is in practice. Activities oriented towards the improvement of the public access to administrative service are planned annually.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
An Information and Secretary Desk, a place for available administrative service, was found in June 2003. An AKSTER OFFICE electronic system for registering and control of the documentation turnover and the administration of the process for accurate and rapid administrative service was introduced in July 2004. A regional electronic gate for available administrative services on governmental and municipal level has been put into practice since September 2004. All the functioning services and printable forms have been available on the web site of Stara Zagora District Administration since September 2004. In December 2004 we worked out a form through which feedback information from the consumers about the quality of the administrative service and the access to the service and information is monitored. In December 2004 we introduced inner activity regulations, inner organization standards for service/The Client’s Charter / and a procedure for registration, analysis and processing activities upon complaints and signals for bad administration. The introduced system for measurement and analysis of service consumption was put into practice in September 2004. The need for training and study courses and career development of the officials has been analyzed and planned since 2004.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The quality of administrative service is the leading principle in the activities of Stara Zagora District Administration. Its work is based on the openness towards public by following the policy of legality, transparency and effectiveness. The ethics and good behavior of the administrative service are part of every official’s work. The activities in administrative service of natural and juridical people is processed following the regulations of the law and the created Client’s Chart and inner regulations for order and organization of the administrative service. The administrative service is in accordance with law, date and accuracy. Stara Zagora District Administration officials do their duties in the administrative service fair-mindedly as they create an atmosphere of equality in the inspected cases and between the consumers of the administrative service, free access to the service of all the citizens and juridical people disregarding the consumers’ ethnic group, sex, education , social status, age, religion, physical or mental disabilities, etc. Stara Zagora District Administration officials service all the consumers with courtesy, respect and sympathy as they pay special attention to potentially unequal social groups. The officials are obliged to keep confidentiality on the facts and data which they become aware of in the process of fulfilling their duties in administrative service of natural and juridical people. The administrative service is done in the atmosphere of openness ,full and available information about all the types of administrative service offered in Stara Zagora District Administration; the essence of the administrative procedures and proceedings; dates; the necessary documentation; the potential consumers’ rights in the process of service; the opportunities for protection of their legal rights and interests in cases of officials’ administrative violation; in cases of administrative service rejection or bad administration. The administrative service is done on the basis of communication and feedback information about the quality of the administrative service and the consumers’ contentedness. The administrative service is done in the atmosphere of coordination and interaction between the administrative groups and Stara Zagora District Administration officials; common and functional control on the process of service and the quality of the given service.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
The basic priority in District Administration’s work is the improvement and the optimizing of the activities in the sphere of the administrative service through increasing of the quality, transparency ,effectiveness and the consumers’ contentedness and thus creating a modern type of administration able to meet the high criteria expectations of the Bulgarian citizens ,business and European Union through better service and highly professional ethics. The aims followed in the work to achieve this type of administration in the administrative service are in accordance with this priority and are connected with the improvement and optimizing of the degree of information and public access to administrative service; improvement of the inner-organization regulations and standards for service in the framework of their normative definition ;creating of an effective work model in realization of the administrative service ;defining and forming of feed-back mechanisms with the administrative service consumers; introducing of new information technologies in the realization of the administrative service activities .

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
The strategy applied is based on the done activities in some different strategy directions, which define the direction of planned influence. The first one is Process of giving administrative service on the ”one desk” principle .It includes a few phases: information on the available administrative service ;applying for administrative service; processing with the application form and the attending documentation; carrying out the administrative service; management of the offers of the administrative service consumers and of the complaints about bad administration. The second direction is Technologies and information systems and it deals with the supply with the necessary highly developed information and communication technique for effective service of the administrative service consumers. The third direction is Human resources which works in several directions: effective allocation of officials; training and study courses and creating mechanisms to build inner motivation and stimulation in order to increase the quality of the administrative service; introducing of formal procedures for the officials for giving their opinions and offers in order to optimize the inner -organization regulations and standards of the offered administrative service. Active participation of all the administrative officials in fulfillment of the rules from the Strategy for transparent administration and for corruption prevention and corruption counteraction . The forth direction is Management of the activities ,which is based on a few strategy documents concerning the main principles, signed actions, responsibilities, dead lines and control mechanisms about the inner-organization activities of the District Administration. The last direction is Infrastructure which deals with the improvement of the technological infrastructure and creating conditions for free access to Information and Secretary Desk

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
On the basis of the defined general principles, aims and strategies in the activities of Stara Zagora District Administration, it has become an effective, modern type and transparent administration. All the activities are directed to openness of the administration to public, available high quality administrative service and functioning in accordance with European principles of good administration. We have achieved optimum of functional allocation of the dealt activities with rational usage of the available human recourse and administrative capacity. In continuance on the already completed project for building an electronic regional gate for delivery of administrative service currently District administration Stara Zagora is part of project PILOT INTEGRATION SYSTEM OF ELECTRONIC DISTRICT. The aim of this project is to build integrated electronic regional gate for delivering electronic administrative services from District Administration as well as all 11 municipality in the district. The administration works for the stabilization of the administrative capacity in carrying out the duties, resulting from the future membership of Republic of Bulgaria in The European Union. The above mentioned has become possible through attending Stara Zagora District Administration officials in the corresponding study and train courses, seminars, etc. and reconstruction in administration, opening of new posts according to planning, programming and administration of projects. We have increased the degree of informing of all the interested part of the public-economic and social partners/discussions, round tables, debates with the participation of the interested sides, internet web site, press conferences, etc. We have created opportunities for publicity and transparency of the administration activities through using different forms of creation and guaranteeing of the possibility for civil participation and contr

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The administration takes part in pilot projects concerning the creation of electronic gate for available administrative service and creation of Information and Secretary Desk. We have reported on the achievements and we have pointed the ways we have done this at the dated forums with other administrations. We keep informal relationship with the leaders of other Regional Governments. We have reported on our experience in the creation of the regional electronic gate for administrative service in a number of international conferences. Some of them are : Eastern Europe е-GOV days’05- jointly organized bу the Forum е – Government, Austrian and the Coгvinus University in Budapest /17th – 18th March 2005/; Southeast Europe Economic Forum, Sofia, Republic of Bulgaria; The Microsoft Government Leaders Forum – Europe, organized from Microsoft in partnership whit European Commission /31st January - 2nd February 2005/, Prague, Czech Republic. On different seminars we have shared our experience, knowledge and results with other district government and municipality administrations in the country. Some of them are: Introducing of electronic governments in Bulgaria Seminar – organized by SAGA technology, in February 2005, Sofia, Bulgaria; The Third International е- Government, e – district, e- municipality Conference, Sofia, Bulgaria- November 2004 In 2004 The Institute for Public Administration and European Integration, Bulgaria organized a national competition for the achievements in the field of electronic government. The aim of this competition was to support the spreading of the good practice in order to create online services for citizens and business. By the spread of the experience and the stimulation of the innovative thinking helps to realize e-Government Strategy in Bulgaria. Stara Zagora District Government won the First place in this competition for the realization of its project for creating of an administrative service electronic gate. Besides in 2005 Stara Zagora District Administration won the Respects of a Charter in national competition Online services 2005 . It is possible to achieve sustainability of the results through the built standards and the signed strategy documents in the area of the administrative service. On this basis we gain new knowledge and skills related to the dynamic environment in which we work and the increasingly higher demands of the citizens on state administration through different training and study courses of the officials. We have achieved sustainability in the administration openness to offers about quality development and improvement of the available administrative service. The active stand and civil attitude of the consumers of this service make us act in such away that we can sustain the achieved and content their expectations and needs.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
The main difficulty came from the fact that we had to sign the administrative service regulations, to prepare the strategy and all the required documents in the sphere of the available administrative service together with the rest of the current activities of the administration. We have learned that in order to meet the increasing demands and expectations of the administrative service consumers we have to build a strong and functioning system with a constructed balance between the service standards, feedback information from the consumers, signed regulations and strategies for administrative service and highly qualified and motivated officials.


Institution Name:		District administration Stara Zagora
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		MARIA NEIKOVA
Title:		Governor
Telephone/ Fax:		0035942601401
Institution's / Project's Website:		0035942600640
E-mail:		mneikova@sz.government.bg
Address:		108, Tsar Simeon Veliki blvd.
Postal Code:		6000
City:		Stara Zagora
State/Province:		Stara Zagova
Country:		Bulgaria

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information