Reducing bureaucracy involves merging and centralizing functions, but the government does not currently plan to carry out mass workforce cuts, Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (JV) said on Wednesday after a meeting with President Edgars Rinkēvičs.
“We need people working in public administration who do their jobs well,” Siliņa stated, emphasizing that in areas like demography, there are many needs, including assistant services and other social services, which cannot be provided without people.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the government aims to consolidate and digitize functions that currently require extensive manual work, such as report generation. “This can certainly be done,” she said, explaining that such measures would allow employees to take on other functions that are more crucial for the state at the moment.
As previously reported, the Prime Minister has set reducing bureaucracy as one of the key goals for her government in the near future. Recently, she also issued a resolution for the establishment of a dedicated working group
This working group will have two co-chairs – State Chancellery Director Raivis Kronbergs and President of the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Aigars Rostovskis.
The group’s task will be to identify obstacles preventing businesses and citizens from achieving results within reasonable timeframes and with reasonable resources. It will work to eliminate these barriers by conducting surveys in ministries, chambers of commerce, and non-governmental organizations, the Prime Minister explained.
Siliņa also emphasized that the government will continue efforts to reduce bureaucratic burdens in public administration when developing regulations. One of the highest priorities will be reducing bureaucracy in the military sector.
The Prime Minister hopes to achieve a 25% reduction in bureaucracy.