Ombudsman calls for ‘blame Brussels’ culture to end

Date of article: 17/01/2019

Daily News of: 17/01/2019

Country:  EUROPE

Author: European Ombudsman

Article language: en

European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, welcomes the European Parliament’s strong vote of support for her recommendations to improve the transparency and accountability of EU national governments’ legislative work in Brussels.

“The lack of legislative transparency in the Council has allowed the ‘blame Brussels’ culture to endure for far too long. I hope today’s vote will help convince national governments - in this most important EU election year - to agree to make EU law-making more open, so the public can see who is really taking the decisions,” said Ms O’Reilly.

“This will require a culture change in the Council, away from old-style diplomacy where much is kept hidden, to a more open and democratic way of working. Taking no action would further damage EU democracy, as this crucial part of the EU legislative process is not open to citizens.”

“It would be unthinkable at national level for Ministers not to tell citizens their p

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Instamos a la Conselleria de Cultura que facilite las visitas a los bienes de interés cultural de València

Date of article: 16/01/2019

Daily News of: 16/01/2019

Country:  Spain - Valencia

Author: Regional Ombudsman of Valencia

Article language: es

El síndic de greuges de la Comunitat Valenciana, José Cholbi, se ha dirigido a la Conselleria de Cultura para recomendarle por tercera vez que adopte “con determinación” todas las medidas que sean necesarias para establecer el régimen de visitas públicas de los inmuebles declarados Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC).

La actuación del Síndic se inició tras ser informado desde la Asociación Círculo por la Defensa y Difusión del Patrimonio Cultural del incumplimiento de las recomendaciones del defensor valenciano sobre este asunto de fechas de mayo de 2015 y diciembre de 2016, a pesar de que ambas habían sido formalmente aceptadas por la Administración autonómica. La asociación detallaba en el escrito de queja una serie de monumentos que se encontrarían en esta situación (el Palacio de Justicia, Colegio e Iglesia de las Escuelas Pías, Colegio Luis Vives, etc.) y otros, como el Palacio del Marqués de la Scala, que si bien son visitables, los requisitos para la reserva previa podrían suponer una traba para algunas personas.

Desde Cultura, se remitió un informe al Síndic en el que comunicaban que habían remitido carta a los titulares de los bienes catalogados como BIC “para intentar dar solución a los inconvenientes que plantea la inexistencia para los mismos de un régimen de visitas” y que volverán a dirigirse a ellos para recabar las propuestas de acceso a los mismos. Asimismo, el informe participaba al defensor que el Anteproyecto de la nueva Ley de Patrimonio Cultural Valenciano contempla un régimen de visitas en las “condiciones de gratuidad que se determine”, no solo para los Bienes de Interés Cultural sino también para los de Relevancia Local.

No obstante, en el tema que nos ocupa, la actual Ley de Patrimonio Cultural Valenciano no deja lugar a dudas. En su artículo 32.1 dispone que los propietarios de bienes inmuebles declarados de interés cultural deberán facilitar la visita pública a éstos, al menos, durante cuatro días al mes, en días y horarios predeterminados que se harán públicos con la difusión adecuada.

Por su parte, desde la Asociación cultural que dirigió al Síndic lamentan que tras más de 20 años desde la entrada en vigor de la citada ley, todavía “no se haya resuelto definitivamente este expediente”.

Ver la resolución del Síndic sobre este asunto.

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Zusätzliche Förderung privater Imker

Date of article: 16/01/2019

Daily News of: 16/01/2019

Country:  Germany

Author: Federal Committee on Petitions of Germany

Article language: de

Petitionen/Ausschuss - 16.01.2019 (hib 49/2019)

Berlin: (hib/HAU) Der Petitionsausschuss will private Imker stärker fördern. In der Sitzung am Mittwochmorgen beschloss der Ausschuss, eine dahingehende Petition dem Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft zu überweisen, "soweit es die zusätzliche Förderung privater Imker betrifft". Mit den Stimmen von CDU/CSU-, SPD- und AfD-Fraktion entschied sich der Ausschuss mehrheitlich für eine Überweisung "als Material". Die FDP-Fraktion, die Linksfraktion und die Fraktion Bündnis 90/Die Grünen hatten für das höhere Votum einer Überweisung "zur Erwägung" plädiert.

In der öffentlichen Petition wird gefordert, dass Neugründungen im Bereich der Imkerei sowie Imkereien, die sich in einer wirtschaftlich schwierigen Situation befinden oder sanierungsbedürftig sind, gefördert werden sollen. Zur Begründung weist der Petent darauf hin, dass die Bienenbestände in Deutschland "bedrohlich zurückgehen". Die EU stelle im Rahmen von Projekten Fördermittel zur Verfügung, heißt es in der Petition. Eine gezielte Förderung von Neugründungen oder Unterstützung von anderen Imkereien sei daher ebenso in Deutschland sinnvoll, um die Vermehrung von Bienenbeständen zu unterstützen.

In der Begründung zu seiner Beschlussempfehlung schreibt der Petitionsausschuss unter Berücksichtigung von Ausführungen der Bundesregierung, im Rahmen des von der EU kofinanzierten Imkereiprogramms förderten die Bundesländer in eigener Zuständigkeit und mit eigenen Haushaltsmitteln unter anderem die Nachwuchsgewinnung als auch die Wiederauffüllung des Bienenbestandes. Durch die Unterstützungsmaßnahmen zur Förderung staatlich anerkannter Bienenbelegstellen und der Bienengesundheit sollen der Vorlage zufolge die Reinzuchtbestrebungen hin zu widerstandsfähigen und leistungsstarken Bienenvölkern unterstützt werden.

Im Rahmen der Gemeinschaftsaufgabe "

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Norfolk council failed two boys with Special Educational Needs

Date of article: 16/01/2019

Daily News of: 16/01/2019

Country:  United Kingdom - England

Author: Local Government Ombudsmen for England

Article language: en

Norfolk County Council’s provision for children with special educational needs (SEN) has been criticised in two separate investigations after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman revealed it had already upheld nine similar complaints.

In the first case, a mother complained the council did not provide her son with suitable education provision for nearly two academic years, and took nearly 46 weeks – more than twice the statutory timescale - to complete his Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. She also complained the council provided her with very little support during the time her son was not receiving full-time education.

In the second case, a boy’s EHC Plan took 26 weeks to produce.  And when the primary school-aged boy was excluded from school, the council did not provide him with suitable education provision, causing him to miss out on full-time education for eight months.

Over the past two years, the Ombudsman has upheld nine similar complaints about Norfolk County Council’s provision for children with Special Educational Needs.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

“We have issued a focus report on out-of-school education provision for children, and on councils’ use of Education, Health and Care Plans, and expect councils to use these to scrutinise, learn from and improve the services they provide to children in their areas.

“In both cases these children were without the vital support and provision they needed at crucial times of their education. I hope the remedies the council has agreed will go some way to repairing the damage done.

“We welcome the proactive steps the council is now taking to improve its provision and oversight of services for children with SEN, and hope this will ensure children will get the support they need in future.”

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s role is to remedy injustice and share learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In the first case, the council has agreed to pay the family £4,000 to acknowledge the delay in producing the EHC Plan and a further £250 for their time and trouble coming to the Ombudsman.

In the second case, the council has agreed to apologise to the family and pay them £3,500 to recognise the injustice caused by the council’s actions and the time and trouble the family were put to in bringing the complaint.  It will also pay the boy’s mother £400 for the cost of commissioning her own dyslexia report, and provide a laptop and any other technological assistance identified in the boy’s EHC Plan.

The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve a council’s processes for the wider public.

The council has agreed to a number of service reviews and improvements following the two reports, including examining other ways of providing alternative education for children out of school, and completing an audit of children missing from education for whom it has a duty to provide education.

It will also review its processes to ensure EHC Plans are produced within statutory timescales and improve the way it monitors missing professional advice it needs to complete the plans.

Article date: 16 January 2019

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Collection of articles: Administrative reform 2017 in Estonia

Date of article: 15/01/2019

Daily News of: 16/01/2019

Country:  Estonia

Author: Chancellor of Justice of Estonia

Article language: en

The aim of the collection published by the Ministry of Finance of Estonia is to provide a comprehensive overview of the central choices and processes of administrative reform. It can serve as the basis for further analysis of the results and impact of the administrative reform and it could be used as a learning resource for planning and implementing complex reforms in the future, even outside of Estonia.

The articles are analytical accounts of the main features of the recent reform process, written by experts familiar with the implementation of the administrative reform.

Among others, advisers to the Chancellor of Justice Vallo Olle, Liina Lust-Vedder and Külli Taro contributed to the collection:
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