- The study analyses the current situation of the evaluation of public policies in the Autonomous Region of Castile and Leon and makes proposals to continue moving towards a more complete framework for the institutionalisation of this practice by making it a permanent feature
- This study is structured around four lines of analysis: the regulatory framework, the organisational structure, the evaluation capacity, and the planning and monitoring of evaluations
- The study includes an international comparison that draws out best practices in evaluation, which has received funding and technical supervision from the European Commission
- On the basis of the findings identified on the ground, proposals have been built that are specific, feasible and adapted to the reality of the autonomous region
The Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) publishes the study “The institutionalisation of the evaluation of public policies in Castile and Leon: current situation and proposals”. This study analyses the current situation of the evaluation of public policies in the Autonomous Region of Castile and Leon and makes proposals to continue moving towards a more complete framework that will allow the institutionalisation of this practice in that regional government by making it a permanent feature.
The evaluation of public policies is insufficiently developed in Castile and Leon. However, it has a regulatory and organisational framework based on which progress can continue to be made towards the institutionalisation of an evaluation system.
This study is structured around four lines of analysis that are considered essential for making progress in the institutionalisation of evaluation: the regulatory framework, the organisational structure, the evaluation capacity and culture, and the planning and monitoring of evaluations. These lines have guided both the field-work carried out between September 2020 and May 2021, with the aim of extracting the findings on the current situation of the autonomous region in the area of evaluation, and the international comparative analysis performed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) at the request of AIReF, which has received funding and technical supervision from the European Commission (DG-REFORM).
Finally, structured around these four lines of analysis and based on the findings identified on the ground, the exchange of information with the Government itself, best practices at an international level and AIReF’s experience, proposals have been built that are specific, feasible and adapted to the reality of the autonomous region.
Proposed institutional architecture for Castile and Leon
By undertaking this study, AIReF proposes an institutional architecture for Castile and Leon based on four agents. A unit that promotes evaluation that fosters the formation and the evaluability of public policies, that coordinates internal evaluations and external commissions to independent institutions, such as AIReF at present, and that measures the level of implementation of the proposals. A unit responsible for integrating the results that incorporate the proposals from the evaluations in the budgetary cycle and in other policy-making bodies. The evaluation units in each management centre that perform the systematic internal evaluations through the use of indicators and perform commissions for external and independent evaluations. Finally, an independent external evaluation unit that lays down an annual evaluation plan and also performs those commissioned by public authorities.
The methodology used in this study has combined qualitative and quantitative research techniques, such as questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis, as well as a survey addressed to the coordinators of the regional departments.
