- At Tuesday’s meeting of the Council of Ministers, the Government approved the creation of an AIReF division to evaluate public policies
- The launch of this Division is part of the institution’s 2020-2026 Strategic Plan
- This modification is made in compliance with the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP), which defines the specific actions for improving the effectiveness of public spending
- The new division strengthens the institution’s permanent review capabilities, which will allow it to address new reviews with more stable resources
- Moreover, the division will establish stable channels of interconnection with the different tiers of government, thus facilitating the process of implementing and monitoring proposals
At the meeting of the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, September 14th, the Government approved a Royal Decree amending the Organic Statute of the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) so as to create the new Public Spending Division (Spending Review). The launch of this new division is part of the 2020-2026 Strategic Plan. It also takes place in compliance with the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP), which defines specific actions for improving the efficiency of public spending.
In the exercise of its functions, AIReF has so far performed several public spending reviews commissioned by the Central Government (such as the two phases of the Spending Review and the Study of Minimum Income Schemes in Spain) and by the Regional Governments.
The creation of the new Public Spending Evaluation Division strengthens this assessment function of AIReF and comes about in compliance with Component 29 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP), which recognises the usefulness of AIReF’s reviews and undertakes to “give continuity and permanence to the spending review exercises by creating a permanent Spending Review division at AIReF”.
The new division, which is split into two departments, will strengthen the institution’s permanent review capabilities. For this purpose, it will be provided with all the necessary resources to perform this work, enabling it to address the challenge of the new reviews with the necessary quality, including the new phases of the Spending Review.
The division will also establish stable channels of interconnection with the different tiers of government in order to provide them with information on its reviews and recommendations, thus facilitating the process of implementing and monitoring the proposals.
This division will join the Economic Analysis Division, the Budget Analysis Division and the Legal Affairs Division.
Other modifications
The Royal Decree approved also assigns the Cabinet of the President of AIReF the level of sub-directorate general in order to place it on a par with the other equivalent cabinets. This cabinet thus takes on a leading role as the body offering direct support and assistance to the President.
Lastly, the royal decree provides for AIReF to be renamed the Autoridad Independiente de Responsabilidad Fiscal, A.A.I, in compliance with the provisions of the Legal Regime of the Public Sector Act.