Focus group on identifying hidden state services was held in Pavlodar

On June 14 the information fund FIPRO within the framework of the Eurasia Foundation project "Service Quality - Zone of Public Control" implemented with the financial support of USAID held a focus group with service providers in Pavlodar.

The focus group included 13 representatives of the administration of akim of Pavlodar oblast, of Pavlodar city, and departments of Pavlodar oblast.

From the beginning, the participants started a lively discussion on the questions posed to the focus group.

In addition to examples of hidden public services given by the participants, issue of the prospects of their regulation was raised.

The participants were not always optimistic: "The regulation of public services does not always lead to positive results. This is due to the fact that the legal registration of a public service entails a complication of the process. It becomes inconvenient as to the service provider (process becomes more complicated, reporting is necessary, addition of registration procedures, etc.), and to the service recipient (the process of receiving a service is complicated and delayed) ". Therefore, the problem lies not only in the identification of hidden public services and their regulation but also in the qualitative processing and improvement of the processes for providing them.

Among the proposals to improve state services were improvement of the standards and regulations, including the unification of some disparate public services into one; consolidation of efforts of developers and service providers in improving the delivery of public services; technical improvement of e-akimat.

Currently, FIPRO is conducting a survey of the population. The results will make it possible to compile a complete picture of what needs to be done with respect to hidden public services and in improving the quality of public services in general.