The State Secretary explained that the ministerial department run by Cristóbal Montoro regularly publishes the deficit in public accounting terms of the General State Administration Services, the rules on spending for the regional governments, the budget performance data, the deficit of the regional governments in public accounting and budgetary terms, the borrowing figures and the average payment period of the regional governments and local authorities. Hence, Spain has become the EU country that provides the most information on its public accounts, said Antonio Beteta.
The drive for transparency, access to information and good governance has become one of the greatest factors for change in the far-reaching administrative reform being undertaken by the Government of Spain since 2012. Antonio Beteta said that this reform has led to estimated savings of over 35 billion euros for the public administration services, general public and companies as a whole.
He went on to mention how transparency can transform political action and bring it closer to the public, who can enjoy fast and simple access from their computer or smartphone to high-level and important information that was practically inaccessible until recently.
Transparency, Access to Public Information and Good Governance Act
The Transparency, Access to Public Information and Good Governance Act has brought about a change of vital importance for the public authorities and society in general, and is proving to be an active instrument for improving the quality of democracy. Promoted by the Government of Spain and the social stakeholders, it requires all levels of Central Government and the public administration services to answer any request for information from any citizen, provided that such a response does not enter into conflict with another protected interest.
The law applies to all public services and authorities, such as the Royal Household, the Lower House of Parliament, the Upper House of Parliament, the Constitutional Court, the General Council of the Judiciary, the Council of State, the Ombudsman, the Court of Auditors, the Economic and Social Council and the corresponding regional institutions, including public universities. The public administration services are required to publish information of interest to the general public, thus introducing a new administrative culture that is open to the public and society.
Transparency and Good Governance Council
In order to guarantee compliance with the Transparency Act, Title III of this text provides for the creation of a Transparency and Good Governance Council aimed at promoting transparency in public activity, ensuring compliance with obligations on active disclosure, safeguarding the exercise of rights on access to public information and guaranteeing the observance of provisions on good governance. This body acts in a fully independent and autonomous manner, which is why its leader remains in this position for five years.
Transparency Portal
The Transparency Portal was created as an instrument of this law to gather together all the information and receive all the queries formulated by the public. It provides the public with a large amount of institutional, regulatory and economic information that, prior to the entry into force of the Transparency Act, was reserved or poorly disclosed and is ensuring that the public becomes more aware of how the public administration services operate.
Evidence of its success can be found in the fact that the Transparency Portal has been visited over five million times and almost 5,000 requests for access to information have been received since 10 December 2014, the date on which the transparency and access to information requirements came into effect for all State bodies.
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