Questions and answers about the APIGP

The Government Programme is a planning document adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in parallel with the election of the new Government. The Government Programme presents the priorities that the Government plans to achieve during its mandate.

The Action Plan for the implementation of the Government Programme (APIGP) is an operational document created towards more effective achieving the Government’s priorities presented in the Programme.

APIGP elaborates the Programme priorities through priority objectives grouped into priority areas, concrete results and deadlines required for their realization.

This mechanism of coordination, monitoring and reporting improves the implementation of the Government Programme and contributes to better realization of the planned results, with the aim of raising the quality of life of citizens and society as a whole.

APIGP is based on results-based management aimed at improving the strategic management system of priority objectives (“top-down”).

In the Government Programme, the Prime Minister-Designate presents the priorities for the upcoming mandate. When the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia elects the Government, the Public Policy Secretariat (PPS) together with ministers and heads of public administration bodies determines the priority objectives, results and timeline necessary for their implementation, as well as the indicators necessary for monitoring.

The PPS coordinates the APIGP preparation, establishes and supports the APIGP coordination mechanism for monitoring the implementation and reporting on the achieved results.

Interdepartmental cooperation is necessary in order to achieve the APIGP objectives and results, and to monitor their implementation. To this end, a special coordination mechanism was established.

The Action Plan for the implementation of the Government Program is divided into priority areas (a set of priority objectives). At the level of those areas, implementation groups are established.

Each implementation group has a Coordinator from the PPS. The Implementation Group Coordinator is constantly in contact with the members of the implementation groups. He/she manages and facilitates the entire process of communication and coordination, mediates and connects several institutions working on the achieving the objectives, in order to jointly monitor the implementation of the results.

The Coordinator schedules and convenes meetings, collects implementation reports on each priority objective, and, if necessary, initiates extraordinary meetings to resolve problems arising in the implementation. The Coordinator collects reports and summarizes the most important results of the respective implementation group. The reports prepared by the coordinators of all implementation groups are integrated into one document (Summary Report) which is submitted to the Prime Minister.

If necessary, Coordinators initiate the preparation of the analyses conducted by the PPS independently or in cooperation with competent public administration bodies. Based on the analyses of relevant data and facts, conclusions and recommendations are drawn for overcoming the observed challenges and solving the problems encountered during the implementation of the activities, aimed at achieving the planned APIGP results.

The members of Implementation Groups include the representatives of ministries from the ranks of state secretaries or assistant ministers, i.e. heads of public administration bodies. For each priority objective, according to the single point of responsibility principle, one person responsible for coordination, monitoring and reporting on the achievement of the priority objective is appointed. The responsible person collects information about the results for a specific priority objective and reports on the degree of its achievement. The responsible person is appointed from the institution whose main competence is achieving the specific objective. In addition to the responsible person at the level of the priority objective, members of the team for coordination, monitoring and reporting from the institutions participating in achieving of that objective are also appointed. Their task is to collect and process data, deliver it to the responsible person for reporting on the degree of achievement of the priority objective.

The PPS coordinates the process of the APIGP drafting as well as the implementation monitoring process and reporting on the achieved results. The PPS also provides support in the collection and processing of data and their preparation for reporting.

The PPS prepares a consolidated report (Summary Report) on the degree of achievement of priority objectives and reports to the Prime Minister.

In cooperation with departments, the PPS observes and, as need be, participates in solving problems arising during the APIGP implementation.

At the request of public administration bodies, the PPS prepares additional analyses to find optimal solutions. The PPS also coordinates modifications and/or amendments to the APIGP, when its revision is necessary.

Regular reporting makes it easier to monitor progress in achieving APIGP objectives and results. It helps to identify risks and problems in achieving objectives and results in a timely manner and devise adequate measures for managing risks and overcoming the identified problems.

The APIGP is a coordination mechanism established to contribute to data- and fact-based management.

This means that at the level of each result, measurable indicators are defined with an initial value, as well as with target values for each year until the end of the Government’s mandate.

Responsible persons with team members for coordination, monitoring and reporting submit data on current values of indicators for each reporting period. This mechanism enables monitoring the time schedule of achieving results and objectives at all times and to respond to challenges and problems in a timely manner.

At the end of the mandate, the final report on the implementation of the APIGP contains data on the degree of achievement of all results and objectives. From this report, we can see how well the Government planned its priorities at the beginning of the mandate and how many results and objectives it achieved.

The report contains information on current values for each indicator, a description of progress compared to the previous reporting period, and an explanation of problems and challenges (if any) in the realization of results. The report also contains information on regulations and public policy documents, the adoption or amendment of which is necessary in order to achieve some of the results.

The data collected through reporting serve to measure progress in the achievement of results and objectives from the APIGP, and are the basis for reporting to the Prime Minister of the RS. In addition, the collected data is used for analyses supporting results-based decision-making.

Regular meetings of the implementation groups are held, generally, every two months.  The persons responsible for each individual priority goal submit a report on its implementation to the PPS within the set deadline, before the meeting of the implementation groups. After the regular meetings of the implementation groups, the PPS prepares a Summary Report to be submitted to the Prime Minister of the RS. The Summary Report is submitted to the Prime Minister and as needed at his/her request.

When the meetings of the implementation groups are chaired by the President of the Government of the RS, the persons responsible for each individual priority objective also submit a report on its implementation to the PPS, within the set deadline, before the meeting of the implementation groups. In this case, the PPS prepares a Summary Report, to be submitted to the Prime Minister of the RS before the implementation groups meetings.

The traffic light rating enables an overview of the success in achieving results at a cursory glance at the Report. The colours (red, yellow and green) signal if everything is going according to plan in achieving the APIGP objectives or if there are problems and challenges in achieving the objectives during the reporting period. The traffic light rating system is not an indicator of the performance of individual ministries and public administration bodies, nonetheless it is there to help all participants in the implementation of the APIGP to react in a timely manner in case of risks or problems when achieving the APIGP objectives. It serves as a confirmation of a good direction and an indicator of progress or a signal for intervention and help in achieving results and objectives.

The procedure for drafting a new APIGP is launched upon the formation of the new Government. When the document is drawn up interdepartmentally and agreed upon, it enters the adoption procedure in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Government. The document is a public one, and upon adoption, it is posted on the websites of the Government and PPS.

The proposal for amendments to the APIGP is prepared by the PPS in cooperation with the competent public administration bodies according to the same procedure provided for the adoption of the APIGP.

The PPS:

• Coordinates the process of the APIGP preparation, monitoring its implementation and reporting on the achieved results, and the process of the APIGP revision;
• It provides support in the collection and processing of data for reporting, in the selection of measurable indicators for monitoring the realization of results;
• Reports on the achievement of the APIGP priority objectives through a unified Summary Report submitted to the Prime Minister;
• It contributes to the improvement of horizontal coordination at the Government level and ensures continuous communication and transparency of information.
• Improves analytical capacities of public administration bodies