On August 8, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the draft order prepared by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (MoEPRD) "On the approval of the development plan of investment 2.1.2.1.i. project "Service provision reform support", centralized functions or shared services". With the financing of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the state budget and the co-financing of municipalities, the network of unified customer service centers of the state and municipalities (Service centers) will be developed and expanded territorially.
The draft of the order plan was created with the aim of expanding and functionally strengthening the existing Service centers network, as well as expanding the provision of services available to residents, creating a network of service delivery contact points that require technological tools and processes to provide customer service functions of the administration in person and remotely, promoting the availability of state services.
Minister Māris Sprindžuks: "The role of the unified service centers is to ensure the availability of services to people who otherwise cannot or have insufficient digital skills for the digital environment, thereby promoting general inclusion in the digital space. They replace the regions of closed service centers of state institutions, using a single, systemic customer service policy - one network, one approach, one standard of service provision. Currently, the network of Unified Service Centers is operating, but it is necessary to expand and develop it, so that the employees and services for the residents of municipalities are as close to their homes as possible, and also the range of services available at the customer service center is expanded."
To develop the new plan, citizens will be provided with wider access to Service centers and closer to receiving state services. Necessary Service centers already provides a wider network of in-person customer service points. Service centers clients can apply for 122 services of 13 state institutions and municipal services.
Additional residents will be given the opportunity to apply for services and participation in events in all Service centers in appropriately equipped rooms with the help of trained employees or independently. authorized institutions with the help of the Service centers network, i.e. using the shared service "Support at unified service application contact points", service holders provide customer service (both physically in person and remotely via video consultations), reduce the circulation of paper applications. The municipality receives a state budget grant according to the number of established Service centers and the number of registered services.
The project is expected to be financed from the Recovery and Resilience Facility in the amount of 5,039,999 euro and co-financing from the state budget and municipalities. Service centers was established with the aim of ensuring the availability of state administration services in accordance with the "one stop agency" principle, constantly providing the opportunity to apply for the most requested service closer to the resident's place of residence.
Service centers has service application points in municipalities, where residents can apply for the most requested state services and municipal services. Currently, Service centers operates in 35 municipalities, in a total of 166 places. MoEPRD, in cooperation with local governments and the Association of Local Governments of Latvia, started the creation of the Service centers network in 2015.
At the moment, residents can independently receive services electronically. If necessary, you can apply to Service centers independently or with the help of a Service centers employee, e-services available on the state administration portal https://www.latvija.gov.lv, as well as various services can be applied to Service centers in paper form on the spot. Also, as well as planning to organize and ensure the future provision of services completely digitally, allowing its conversion to or from analog format only for customer service purposes, with the support of Service centers it is possible to receive service by phone, using a centralized call center or a document.
