Service delivery standards for MMDAs
Under the government’s decentralisation and local government reform initiative, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) have been assigned a wide range of responsibilities, including the provision of basic social services and infrastructure and the co-ordination of local economic development.
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The MMDAs, thus, play a critical role in addressing national poverty-reducing objectives, thereby contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Due to the proximity of local governments to the citizenry, they are generally considered to be better informed about and more responsive to the needs and preferences of local populations than the central government. To ensure that high quality services are rendered in the future, a process of defining service delivery standards in Ghana was initiated.
The ultimate goal of this process is to establish a universal framework for service delivery standards in the Local Government Service (LGS) as provided for by the Local Government Service Act, (Act 656), 2003.
Section 6 of Act 656, among others, enjoins the Local Government Service to:
• Set performance standards within which the district assemblies and regional co-ordinating councils shall carry out their functions and discharge their duties;
• Monitor and evaluate the performance standards of district assemblies and regional co-ordinating councils.
The introduction of service delivery standards was to establish the minimum levels of service delivery and use such standards to manage the expectations of the citizenry.
Definition, measure, service delivery standards
Service delivery standards are the minimum level of expected services in terms of quality, process, time and cost that the LGS commits to deliver to its clients or those that the clients should expect to receive.
LGS delivery standards aspire to meet the local needs based on unique circumstances of a district or community. This section provides an integrated summary of definitions and indicators for the measurement of each service delivery standard.
Participation
MMDAs are required to regularly seek the opinion of the citizenry within their areas of jurisdiction on services they provide. When stakeholders participate adequately in decision making, they have the opportunity to influence decisions about the provision of public services by providing objective evidence that determines prioritisation for the provision of these services.
The measurement indicators as presented for assessing “participation” include:
• Ensuring that MMDAs involve all stakeholders in the annual fee-fixing resolutions;
* Ensuring that MMDAs organise community hearings to include the views of all stakeholders during the planning and budgeting process.
Professionalism
Professionalism is the demonstration of requisite skills and competencies and the ability to adapt best practices in the delivery of services to the satisfaction of the client while adhering to ethical standards.
It is required that staff working within MMDAs maintain high levels of specialist knowledge, keep up to date with current research, methodologies and processes.
Staff must participate in induction processes, professional development, effective performance management processes and professional peer supervision and support.
Client focus
One of the fundamental ideals of decentralisation is to improve delivery service. It is, therefore, crucial for officials of MMDAs to treat members of the public as “customers” who are entitled to receive the highest standard of service.
These issues range from greeting and addressing “customers” to the style and tone of officials when interacting with members of the public and in dealing with people with special needs such as the elderly or physically challenged.
The measurement indicators as presented for assessing “client focus” include:
• The establishment of functional client service centres in all MMDAs by the end of 2014,
• Ensuring that MMDAs publish and disseminate a client service charter by the end of 2014.
Transparency
Transparency is providing all stakeholders with the understanding of how MMDAs operate and furnishing them with easy access to adequate and timely information regarding decisions and actions taken by MMDAs.
The principle of transparency requires that officials of MMDAs are circumspect in matching available resources against planned budgets and actual expenditure.
Some measurement indicators as presented for assessing “transparency” are:
•The establishment of a procurement committee and ensuring that all procurement activities are carried out in conformity with the Public Procurement Act on time;
•Updating revenue charts on monthly basis and displaying expenditure charts on MMDAs’ notice boards at vantage places.
Efficient and effective use of resources
The scarcity of resources in public institutions require that the limited resources are used to obtain value for money. Local government officials must ensure they cut down public expenditure and create a more cost effective local government.
The practices where goods, works and services are procured far above the prevailing economic market prices are inconsistent with the practice of the principle of value for money.
The measurement indicators as presented for assessing the “efficient and effective use of resources” include:
*Ensuring that the procurement of goods, works and services conforms to the Procurement Act and is conducted on time;
*Ensuring that financial transactions are in line with the Financial Administration Act, financial regulations and financial memoranda and on time.
Accountability
Accountability is taking responsibility for one’s actions and/or inaction in rendering services and informing citizens on the use of public resources.
Some possible measurements for accountability are:
* Annually organising stakeholders public budget hearing in a local dialect most widely used within the assembly’s jurisdiction (Twi, Gonja, Dabgane, Frafa, Ga, etc.);
*Publishing and implementing comments contained in the annual audit reports two weeks after receipt;
Next steps
The LGS is working to link service delivery standards to a comprehensive performance management system (PMS) to improve the effectiveness of MMDAs and regional coordinating councils.
The PMS will serve as the benchmark for measuring and managing the performance of these institutions. The service delivery standards would provide the limits within which the performance of MMDAs and regional coordinating councils in Ghana would be measured within a league system to be established by the end of the year.