The Flemish Government supports the self-evaluation of local administrative effectiveness

Together with a university consortium (Catholic University of Leuven, Ghent University and University of Antwerp) IDEA Consult was appointed to support 19 Flemish local authorities with a self-evaluation of their administrative effectiveness. In so doing the Flemish Government wants to actively encourage local administrations to evaluate their administrative effectiveness and tackle the difficulties.

An administrative effectiveness monitor was developed within the Policy Research Centre (SBOV) in 2014 to make local administrative effectiveness measurable in a scientific way. The result is a wide range of indicators that portray the various constituent aspects of this complex concept.

Very many aspects of administrative effectiveness are, however, not or barely measurable. Hence, supplementary ‘guiding questions for self-evaluation' were drawn up with which the local administrations can put their administrative effectiveness to question.

Support for 19 local authorities

In the first half of 2016 the Internal Administration Agency is providing external support for the self-evaluation of some 20 candidate towns and cities.

Under the guidance IDEA will support the participating local authorities with the interpretation of the indicators and the answers to the guiding questions. In mutual consultation we draw the relevant conclusions and create an action plan to rise to the challenges identified. It is up to the local authorities to also actually take action following the self-evaluation.

The following 19 local authorities were selected to take part in the project: Borsbeek, Diksmuide, Eeklo, Essen, Heist-op-den-Berg, Hemiksem, Kaprijke, Knesselare, Londerzeel, Meeuwen-Gruitrode, Neerpelt, Puurs, Ranst, Schilde, Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Tienen, Wachtebeke, Wijnegem and Zutendaal.

Also curious about the administrative effectiveness of your local authority? On the lokalestatistieken.be website there is a report with the filled in indicators for all Flemish local authorities.