Foreword

Public administration reform has been a top priority for the government in Spain for the last decade. Following the establishment of the Commission for the Reform of the Public Administration (Comisión para la Reforma de la Administración, CORA) in 2012, reforms have accelerated, with the aim of strengthening the ability of government entities to deliver high-quality services to citizens and businesses, while enhancing transparency and accountability. Several key reforms focussed on the General Comptroller of the State Administration (Intervención General de la Administración del Estado, IGAE) and the National Audit Office (Oficina Nacional de Auditoría, ONA). One gave these entities a mandate to design a continuous supervision system (sistema de supervisión continua, SSC), administered by the ONA.

Through the SSC, the ONA seeks to improve the independent scrutiny and evaluation of public policies by monitoring risks associated with government entities’ compliance with laws and regulations, financial sustainability and relevance. Ultimately, the SSC is meant to enhance accountability of the government to taxpayers. As Spain recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, and advances with its Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan for 2021 to 2026, having effective control and supervision mechanisms in place is timely and critical.

This report discusses the SSC and the ONA’s progress in the early stages of its implementation. Overall, the ONA has responded quickly and effectively to implement an approach to continuous supervision that is tailored to the Spanish context. It now faces the challenge of improving on its early progress, and iterating new versions of the SSC that exceed the high bar it has set for itself. This report offers considerations and recommendation for the ONA as it develops the SSC further. It focuses on ways for the ONA to strengthen its risk-based approach, enhance its strategy and capacity for data-driven monitoring and improve the ways it communicates and co-ordinated with government stakeholders to promote transparency.

This project was carried out with funding from the European Union via the Structural Reform Support Programme and in co-operation with the European Commission's DG Structural Reform Support. This document was approved by the OECD Working Party of Senior Public Integrity Officials (SPIO) on 01 November 2021and declassified by the Public Governance Committee on 23 November 2021. It was prepared for publication by the OECD Secretariat.