Non-governmental organizations may be allowed to provide government services in the social sphere. Feedback from public experts on draft laws Draft law on social procurement

The purpose of the bills is to improve the quality and accessibility of government and municipal services in the fields of education, healthcare, social protection, employment, physical culture and sports. The possibility of participation of the service consumer in the selection of the service provider is provided. Thus, when providing services in social sphere The principle “money follows the consumer” will be implemented. At the same time, the bill does not make it mandatory to use competitive methods for selecting service providers. The bill creates a legal framework within which such selection can be carried out. The bill is aimed at creating equal conditions for state and non-state organizations involved in the provision of public services in the social sphere, which will help eliminate the existing inequality in the financing of such activities. The implementation of the bills will make it possible for the first time to generate and make public data on total volume social public services, the provision of which the state guarantees in the corresponding financial year. This is needed both by citizens - consumers of such services, and by the non-state sector in the social sphere.

Draft federal laws “On state (municipal) social order for the provision of state (municipal) services in the social sphere” (hereinafter referred to as bill 1) and “On amendments to certain legislative acts Russian Federation in connection with the adoption of the Federal Law “On the state (municipal) social order for the provision of state (municipal) services in the social sphere” (hereinafter referred to as bill 2) were introduced by the Ministry of Finance of Russia.

The purpose of the bills is to improve the quality and accessibility of state and municipal services in the areas of education, healthcare, social protection, employment, physical education and sports.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to enable non-governmental organizations to provide state and municipal services in the social sphere. This will, on the one hand, ensure the availability of public services where state (municipal) institutions are absent, and on the other hand, create motivation for state (municipal) institutions to improve the quality of the services they provide, increase labor productivity, generally improve organization and increase efficiency activities.

Currently, market-oriented, competitive methods of providing services at the expense of budgetary funds public services non-governmental organizations are used in many countries. There is such experience in Russia - in the system of compulsory health insurance, in higher education at the federal level, in higher education and social services for citizens in a number of constituent entities of the Federation and municipalities. At the same time, the non-governmental non-profit sector is actively developing. There is great potential for involving this sector in the provision of public services in the social sphere. Non-governmental non-profit organizations are able to accumulate both the resources of civil society and financial resources provided from the budget, ensuring the accessibility and quality of public services.

At the same time, the currently existing instruments for attracting non-governmental organizations to the provision of public services have significant shortcomings and do not ensure the unity of law enforcement practice throughout Russia.

Within the framework of the current legal regulation government tasks to government agencies are distributed mainly by the administrative method “based on what has been achieved”, without due consideration of the volume and quality of services. Organs executive power and the government institutions themselves are focused on preserving the existing budget network and are not interested in increasing labor productivity and quality of services, or “fighting for the consumer.”

Therefore, existing legal mechanisms in this area need to be significantly supplemented and improved.

Bill 1 provision is made for the participation of the service consumer in the selection of the service provider. This will ensure the provision of public services in the social sphere based on the principle “money follows the consumer.”

The bill is aimed at creating equal conditions for state and non-state organizations involved in the provision of public services in the social sphere, eliminating the existing inequality in the sphere of financing such activities.

The bill takes into account established practices of attracting non-governmental organizations to the provision of public services in the social sphere, provides for the use of tools that allow, taking into account local conditions, the use of market-oriented, competitive methods definitions of the performer of public services in the social sphere.

The bill is a framework bill. The bill does not oblige a public legal entity to use competitive methods for selecting service providers, but only creates a legal framework within which such selection will be carried out if the public legal entity makes an appropriate decision. If a public legal entity evaluates the existing system for the provision of public services as sufficient and effective, then it can remain within the framework of existing instruments for organizing and financing public services, that is, for example, using exclusively state or municipal assignments and a subordinate network of institutions.

Holding competitions only for non-governmental organizations, as is currently being done, limits their participation in the provision of public services. At the same time, this reduces the incentive for government agencies to fight for consumers and improve the quality of services provided.

To fulfill the state social order, along with the applicable mechanism of state assignments to subordinate institutions, the bill provides for the possibility of a competition, including with the participation of non-governmental organizations. The bill also provides for the possibility of using a certificate giving citizens the right to independently choose an organization that will provide them with a particular service for budget funds.

Conducting joint competitions between non-governmental organizations and government agencies, most of whom are objectively interested in the transparent distribution of budget funds, will help improve the quality and accessibility of government services in the social sphere.

Certificates for the provision of government services in the field of additional education for children will allow non-governmental organizations working in this area (clubs, sections, etc.) to refuse to charge parents for the preparation of the child, and will expand the choice and interest of parents when searching for organizations for the additional development of the child .

The bill provides for the possibility of concluding agreements based on the results of a competition for a period corresponding to the period of provision of the public service. This will allow owners to invest in social infrastructure facilities and conduct activities using these facilities.

The implementation of the bill will make it possible for the first time to generate and make public data on the total volume of social government services, the provision of which the state guarantees in the corresponding financial year. This is necessary both for citizens - consumers of such services, and for the non-state sector in the social sphere - in terms of the predictability and long-term nature of its relationship with the state.

Bill 2 It is proposed to amend a number of federal laws regulating the provision of state and municipal services in the social sphere. These changes are necessary in the context of the implementation of the provisions of Bill 1 and define cases in which the provision of public services is possible only by establishing a state task and in which other methods of selecting service providers are excluded.

Thus, it is proposed to introduce appropriate clarifications into the Federal Law of November 21, 2011 No. 323-FZ “On the fundamentals of protecting the health of citizens in the Russian Federation.”

Also in “On Education in the Russian Federation” (hereinafter referred to as Federal Law No. 273-FZ) it is proposed to provide that the selection of organizations engaged in educational activities on the implementation of educational programs of secondary vocational and higher education, in order to fulfill the state social order, will be carried out in the manner established by Article 100 of Federal Law No. 273-FZ, which regulates the procedure for distributing admission control numbers. Thus, within the framework of the state social order for services in the field of education, including in the field of culture and art, exclusively state assignments will be formed in accordance with the target admission figures. This provides for the right of state and municipal authorities to decide on the distribution of control figures in the field of arts only between state and municipal institutions.

Amendments made to the Federal Law of December 4, 2007 No. 329-FZ “On Physical Culture and Sports in the Russian Federation” stipulate that sports training in Russia can be carried out on the basis of a state (municipal) social order. At the same time, the implementation of the state social order for sports training, approved by the Ministry of Sports of Russia, is carried out by establishing an exclusively state task.

In view of public importance and a high share of educational services in the total volume of government services in the social sphere, a deferred effect of the norm is provided for in terms of the provision of government services for the implementation of educational programs general education by providing a certificate for receiving such services. It is expected that this norm will be in force from January 1, 2022.

The bills will be considered at a government meeting.

The main objective of the two bills submitted to the State Duma by the Government of the Russian Federation is to improve the quality and accessibility of the provision of state and municipal services in the areas of education, healthcare, social protection, employment, physical culture and sports. To achieve this goal, it is planned to open access for non-governmental organizations to the provision of state and municipal services in the social sphere. It is expected that this will not only ensure accessibility of services for the population, but also improve the quality of work of government and municipal institutions. As the initiator noted, the currently existing tools for attracting non-governmental organizations to the provision of public services have significant shortcomings and do not ensure unity law enforcement practice. And the bill will create equal conditions for everyone, regardless of the type of organization.

To fulfill the state or municipal social order, competitions will be held, including with the participation of non-governmental organizations, and certificates will be issued giving citizens the right to independently choose organizations that provide them with this or that service at the expense of budget funds. It is explained that citizens will have the opportunity to participate in choosing the service provider, thus ensuring the principle “money follows the consumer.”

When deciding to change the current legislation, world experience was also taken into account. “Market-oriented, competitive methods of providing public services at the expense of budgetary funds by both state and non-state organizations have been widely used in the world for a long time,” the report says. explanatory note to the bill. It is also noted that social entrepreneurship requires predictability and long-term relationships with the state.

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It is planned to adopt a large-scale bill "On the state (municipal) social order for the provision of state (municipal) services in the social sphere", as well as a document that will make changes to current legislature in connection with the adoption of the first. If they are adopted, the relevant laws will come into force on January 1, 2019, with the exception of certain provisions.

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With the text of bill No. 519530-7 "On the state (municipal) social order for the provision of state (municipal) services in the social sphere
The text of bill No. 519539-7 "On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation in connection with the adoption of the Federal Law "On the state (municipal) social order for the provision of state (municipal) services in the social sphere" and materials for it can be found on the official State Duma website.

“Zero reading” of the bill on state procurement for the provision of public services in the social sphere took place on September 25. The RF OP will prepare an opinion on the framework bill.

Record best practices and provide conditions

The quality of public services in the social sphere directly depends on the presence of competition between various suppliers, says a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation (OP RF) Elena Topoleva. The situation in which the only providers of services are budgetary institutions does not contribute to increased competition, increased efficiency of these services and increased citizen satisfaction, she emphasized. Recently, some progress has been achieved in this area, more non-state players have entered the market and there are positive dynamics, in particular, in the field of social services, says Topoleva. However, there are still barriers that prevent this process from going faster. One of the main problems is that the situation is very different in different regions: in some regions there are new mechanisms for attracting non-governmental organizations to the market social services are being actively implemented, but other entities are not yet using these mechanisms.

In 2016, the RF OP already held public hearings on this bill, but since then it has been revised, piloted in some regions and has proven its efficiency, says Topoleva. The main objective of the bill, according to a member of the RF OP, is to fix best practices and provide conditions for them to be perceived as recognized at the federal level and at the level of constituent entities of the Russian Federation. This is a framework bill that will facilitate the access of non-governmental organizations to the services market, Topoleva emphasized, it creates new opportunities and legitimizes the tools that have appeared in certain regions.

Stable access to budget funds

International experience shows that non-governmental organizations should have guaranteed, stable access to budget funds, says the Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Alexey Lavrov. He emphasized that the main innovation of the bill under discussion is the introduction of the very concept of “state municipal order”. As soon as the law comes into force, each body responsible for public services will have to annually publicly approve the volume of the social order and post it on the appropriate resources, Lavrov says.

In order for non-governmental organizations to be interested in participating in this process, it is proposed to ensure equal cost of providing public services, regardless of who provides it - state-financed organization or non-governmental organization.

In addition, it is planned to amend the legislation and ensure the possibility of concluding an agreement on the provision of services for a period exceeding the validity period of the limits of budget obligations, as well as to remove social contract services from VAT taxation. According to the deputy minister, it is expected that the law under discussion will come into force in January 2020.

Citizens must have a choice

In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Russia is a social state, said a member of the RF OP Lidiya Mikheeva, but this does not mean that the state will provide every citizen necessary services directly. The state merely acts as an organizer for the supply of these goods, she explained. According to Mikheeva, this approach, when citizens have a choice of several initiatives with which they can interact, is the only correct one. It is important to provide citizens with the opportunity to choose, she emphasized. Mikheeva believes that in today’s economic realities this bill will create organizational foundations for the possibility of such choice and involvement of the active part of the population in the provision of social services.

Replicate successful practices

Earlier, the Ministry of Economic Development reported with information on support for socially oriented non-profit organizations and data on the implementation of a set of measures for the access of SO NPOs to the social services market in 2017. Testing of the bill in pilot regions showed an increase in the volume of services provided by non-profit organizations at the expense of budget funds, said the director of the Department strategic development and innovations of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Artem Shadrin. In particular, in the sphere of providing social services in 2017, the volume of services provided by non-profit organizations doubled.

“We see the realizable potential of non-profit organizations, and we expect that those mechanisms that turned out to be in demand in the pilot regions will be replicated in all subjects of the federation. It seems to me very important that at the same time mechanisms for supporting non-profit organizations will be developed. When they see that they have a real opportunity to receive adequate reimbursement for their costs of providing services in the social sphere, the process of their professionalization will proceed at an even faster pace,” Shadrin emphasized.

What the bill does not take into account

Experts note that today’s version of the bill contains a number of administrative barriers to the access of non-state providers to the social services market. In particular, all suppliers are required to open accounts with the treasury.

In addition, it is necessary to avoid a situation in which the main criterion for selecting suppliers will be the most low prices for services. Experts believe that it is necessary to set the “weight” different criteria so that the cheapness of the service does not determine the choice.

Experts also emphasize that access to the social services market can be significantly difficult for organizations providing unique services that are not included in established lists not in any department.

Another problem associated with the enforcement of new legislation may be that the law will provide support only to advanced regions, without stimulating the development of lagging subjects.

Based on the results of the “zero” reading, the RF OP will prepare an opinion on the bill “On the state (municipal) social order for the provision of state (municipal) services in the social sphere” and on the amendments to the current legislation planned in connection with the adoption of this law.

Sergey KHABAEV, Head of the Center for Finance of State and Municipal Institutions, NIFI

Pavel KRADINOV, senior Researcher Center for Finance of State and Municipal Institutions NIFI

The Government of the Russian Federation submitted to the State Duma draft Federal Law No. 519530-7 “On the state (municipal) social order for the provision of state (municipal) services in the social sphere.” The bill creates legal framework to develop competition and improve the quality of state and municipal services by involving non-governmental organizations in their provision.

Before moving on to the consideration of specific provisions of the bill, we note that this document is of a framework nature and involves the adoption of a large list of by-laws at the federal, regional and municipal levels. In particular, these are:

• the procedure for the formation of state (municipal) social orders for the provision of public services in the social sphere;
• the procedure for holding a competition for the purpose of concluding an agreement on the provision of public services in the social sphere;
• report form on the execution of social orders;
• the procedure for combining several public services in the social sphere during a competition for concluding an agreement on the provision of public services in the social sphere;
• the procedure for generating an electronic certificate for receiving government services in the social sphere;
• the procedure for providing subsidies from the budget to the provider of public services in the social sphere;
• the procedure for selecting a new service provider in the event of termination of the agreement concluded with the existing service provider (necessary to ensure the continuity of the process of providing public services).

In addition, the Government of the Russian Federation must adopt a whole package of regulatory legal acts. For example, General requirements to determine the maximum permissible possible deviations from indicators of the volume and quality of the provision of public services, requirements for the description of proposals of competition participants for concluding an agreement on the provision of public services, requirements for documents that may be required from competition participants to confirm compliance with established requirements.

Scope

The bill applies only to services provided individuals in the field of education, healthcare, social protection, employment, physical education and sports, as well as tourism. At the same time, relations arising in connection with the provision of services in accordance with the laws “On Compulsory Medical Insurance”, 210-FZ are excluded from the scope of the bill (with the exception of services in the social sphere included in the all-Russian basic (industry) lists of services provided to individuals persons), “On the fundamentals of protecting the health of citizens in the Russian Federation” (with some exceptions).

The new law will allow businesses to be involved in the traditionally state sphere of social services.

Currently in Russia there is no systemic regulation of the participation of non-governmental organizations in the provision of public services. Regional authorities are trying to resolve this issue independently and are developing their own regulatory framework, which is not supported at the federal level. This, naturally, creates imbalances; the conditions for attracting non-governmental organizations to provide public services vary greatly in different regions. In addition, only those regions that are willing to bear the risks associated with monitoring the targeted use of budget funds involve non-state structures in the sphere of public services.

To solve the problem, the Ministry of Finance developed a bill on social procurement, which was approved by the government, submitted to the State Duma and is scheduled for consideration in the autumn session. Of course, the bill also has critics that it will not actually improve the quality of public services. But is it?

Competition criteria

It is worth emphasizing that before being submitted to the State Duma, the bill was widely discussed for several years by federal and regional authorities with the involvement of expert and professional communities, public organizations, which made it possible to take into account the opinions of all participants in this process in the final version.

Initially, the bill proposed holding auctions using a price criterion to select service providers, which caused criticism from experts. The bill submitted to the State Duma no longer contains provisions on holding auctions, and this is fully consistent with modern international approaches to the competitive involvement of non-governmental organizations in the provision of public services. Currently, the bill provides exclusively for a competition to select a service provider. It is stated that the winner is the one who proposed Better conditions execution of the agreement on their provision.

The provision of most government services in the social sphere is now carried out by regional authorities and bodies local government. It is important that the draft law does not impose on them the method of providing public services, giving them the right to independently decide when forming government order whether or not to use competitive tools. Since the bill provides the authorities concerned with the right, and does not establish obligations, it can be considered as a framework act that will allow the regions to successfully implement their own powers.

While working on the bill, experts discussed in detail the issue of procedures for selecting government service providers at the level federal law, current practice was studied. As a result, they decided to enshrine in the bill only basic provisions that ensure uniformity of approaches when organizing competitions. These provisions included the conditions for admission to the selection of service providers, requirements for competition participants; general requirements for the procedure for holding a competition, conditions for combining public services at a competition; conditions for canceling the competition and the content of the announcement of its holding; regulation of changes and withdrawal of proposals of competition participants, requirements for the content of proposals of a competition participant; general requirements for the consideration and evaluation of proposals from competition participants.

It is on the basis of these standards that the structures responsible for the provision of services must develop and approve procedures for conducting the competition. This ensures there is no discrimination for all involved. At the same time, the government is authorized to determine a number of conditions for the competition procedure, which makes it possible to prevent the emergence of risks of violation of the rights of competition participants.

Thus, the bill eliminates arbitrariness in decision-making and builds a clear and transparent system of legal regulation that ensures competition in the selection of service providers and the protection of their rights. It would be possible to go the other way and use the law on the federal contract system to determine procedures in the field of selection of public service providers. But this would mean stopping the restructuring of the public sector in Russia, since this law regulates the selection of a supplier (performer, contractor) for procurement, the subject of which is consumed by the authorities and institutions themselves, and therefore is not suitable for the selection of service providers in cases where such a service is not provided to a government agency, but to a citizen.

Guarantees for private owners

Another important point, which must be noted, the bill includes rules governing the conditions for terminating agreements on the provision of public services, which creates additional guarantees for performers. In Russian Civil Code Any contract can be terminated; the code does not provide guarantees for the parties from making such decisions. And the draft law on social order creates them, which will also be important for business.

Critics of the bill point to inequalities between government agencies and non-government organizations. Government institutions receive budget resources not only for the provision of services, but also for the maintenance of the property assigned to them. The same approach will be extended to non-governmental organizations through the application of uniform standards. Already now, financing the implementation of state tasks is carried out taking into account maintenance costs real estate, especially valuable movable property and the cost of paying taxes on this property. We can agree that such standards are not entirely sufficient to ensure the development of an organization that provides public services. But they can definitely be called the first step in the right direction, followed by others. As competition develops and the practice of involving private business in the traditionally public sphere, it will be possible to adjust the approach to the maintenance of property that is used in the provision of public services.