The local government reform 2009 : its envisaged impact on improved public service delivery

Abstract

The environment in which local government in Malta operates has greatly altered in the past 17 years. Local government has played a key role in shaping and facilitating change over this time through the provision of new services. The structural improvements to the local government administrative system under Local Government Reform (2009) Report have strengthened the sector's capacity to represent local communities, to shape local policy and to deliver a wider range of services. However, the major changes which have occurred in Malta in recent years have confronted local government with a new set of challenges. Local government is tasked with serving a larger, more diverse, more educated and more demanding population. In addition to providing traditional services, such as roads and educational services, local authorities must now give more time to the more complex tasks of community building. Coordinating development and providing essential services, particularly in areas of significant population growth, will remain a demanding task. Local government also faces difficult environmental management tasks in dealing with waste and employ efficient energy use. Coping with these challenges requires innovation and high performance. A relationship of trust and common goals between central and local government is encouraged, as witnessed in the contribution of the Local Councils to Malta's Strategic Vision for 2015 for Sustainable Localities. A brief review of foreign reforms has been done, however due to the constraints of space some issues are reviewed in greater detail than others and some issues of detail are left to be analysed by other in the future. Hopefully this long essay will create a basis for further, more detailed analysis on the many issued raised.