Carlos Moedas will present today in a parliamentary meeting the proposal for the creation of the Department of Transparency and Anti-Corruption, an organization which he announced the creation of on the 19th, the date on which the autarchy was the target of searches related to urban planning, after he had stated that it would continue until the end of the month. Yesterday, the Chamber of Lisbon was again the target of house searches, in the context of another case, but also in connection with urban processes. The new service will be responsible for two new units: the Prevention and Control department and the Administrative Transparency and Accountability department.
Proposal 26/2023 to be presented today by the Lisbon City Council, to which DN had access, provides for the creation of the Department for Transparency and Anti-Corruption, which will enable such things as “defining and ensuring the application of uniform standards and criteria for the licensing” of urban operations, promoting the simplification of permitting procedures” and participation in the development of “improvement and modernization of the work management and control processes of the municipality”, the “preparation and revision of municipal ordinances on matters falling within the competence of the municipality”, support “in designing and implementing policies and strategies in the areas of service delivery and citizen relations”. This department, the document says, will be “in direct dependency of the mayor or alderman with delegated or sub-delegated authority,” in this case, Councilor Joana Almeida.
The list of powers of this future department includes functions ranging from “supporting the executive in designing and implementing policies and strategies to promote transparency and prevent corruption and related crimes in the municipality”, “executing and monitoring the risk management policy, in coordination with the Audit Department”, “ensuring accountability of the municipality, guaranteeing the up-to-dateness of the information in the various communication channels, in coordination with all organic units, preferably in open data format”, ” increasing the internal control system, based on normative references and good practices applicable to public administration, promoting the improvement of processes in the various departments”, to “cooperating in defining policies for digital transformation and open data at CML and “coordinate, monitor and globally evaluate municipal strategy for tran transparency and prevention of corruption, in cooperation with the municipal services, and implement the measures within their competence”.
With regard to this latest award, Councilor Joana Almeida – who merges the Transparency and Corruption Prevention portfolios with Urbanism – announced at the Lisbon City Council on 7 January that the municipality intends to move forward with the elaboration of a strategic plan for transparency and the fight against corruption, starting with the presentation of the mandate “in two months’ time” and the finalization of the strategic plan “this year” and that this should be “a three-year action plan”.
Carlos Moedas has always considered the fight against corruption as one of his campaign banners, in this sense he has created a portfolio dedicated to this area, noting that it is something unprecedented in the Lisbon Chamber. In March 2022, as part of the conference “Fighting Corruption – Presentation of the Risk Prevention and Management Plan”, he had already pointed out the need to create the department that will be voted on today. “You can always count on me, as mayor, as a politician, to always be at the forefront of this fight, which is undoubtedly one of the most important we have in our country, the fight against corruption of any kind,” he said. then the mayor.
Focus on administrative simplification
This Transparency and Anti-Corruption Department will be responsible for two divisions: the Prevention and Control Department and the Administrative Transparency and Accountability Department. Among the powers of the former is to support the implementation of the Code of Ethics and Conduct and the Reporting Channel, approved in a House meeting on September 14, as well as “ensuring the proper transmission of the complaint report, through the defined procedures , with the guarantee of safeguarding privacy and rights”, but also “to propose the performance of internal audits in the audit department, whenever it appears necessary for the pursuit of the defined objectives”.
The Administrative Transparency and Accountability Division’s tasks include “supporting the services in operationalizing municipal administrative and regulatory simplification measures, removing or reducing administrative burdens and other framework costs and assessing the impact thereof” and “to annually gauge the interested parties, in consultation with the Participation Division, stimulate the sustainable improvement of the services, analyze the suggestions made internally and externally and, if necessary, propose to adopt them”.
Reformulation of the control area
The proposal that will be presented to the councilors of the Lisbon Chamber today also provides for the abolition of the Quality Management and Audit Department and the creation of a new audit department, which should also be supervised by Councilor Joana Almeida.
This body is assigned powers such as “developing the annual audit plan covering expenditure, revenue collection and asset management, in the financial, operational and information system aspects of the municipal universe”, “carrying out the audit or other assigned actions”. according to criteria of economy, effectiveness and efficiency, highlighting the deviations and recommending preventive and corrective measures to be implemented”, “carry out internal audits resulting from the results presented by the Department of Transparency and Prevention of Corruption” , “follow up and contract external audits and coordinate the preparation of contradictions”, “form a group of multidisciplinary internal auditors, with the necessary technical skills to conduct audits in the different areas of municipal activity” and “conduct audits of the participating companies, namely the companies of the local business community”, among others.
This proposal, after being approved by the Council, will be put to a vote at the Lisbon City Council. In case of a “green light” from this body, the changes to the structures of municipal services will take effect within 90 days of publication in the Diário da República.
Source: DN
