Administration - At the beginning of 2024, there are hardly any short-term appointments at the Citizens' Registration Office
It is still difficult to get appointments at the citizens' office at short notice. Contrary to plans, this will not generally be possible within 14 days in the new year either, admitted the State Secretary for Administrative Modernization, Martina Klement (CSU). "The situation in the citizens' offices has been tense for years, and the corresponding measures are unfortunately only slowly making themselves felt," she told the German Press Agency. "From my point of view, it would be desirable if things could move much faster." Klement held out the prospect of a significant improvement in the first half of 2024, without giving a more specific date.
Citizens' offices get additional jobs
Berlin's governing mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) had promised in July that the 14-day target would still be achieved in 2023. At the time, he had said that he actually wanted Berliners not to have to wait 14 days for an appointment, but to receive their service when they went to the citizens' offices.
That still seems a long way off. "We successfully completed the 14-day target project in the summer and are now in the implementation phase," said Klement. "Among other things, the project provides for 100 additional jobs for the citizens' offices." Most of these positions are currently being advertised and some have already been filled.
Relief should come as quickly as possible
"We have been able to reach an agreement with the districts on a system in which they have to fill the positions within six months," explained the State Secretary. "If they are still unfilled after six months, the vacancies will be distributed to the other districts."
This should also speed things up. "We must ensure that the positions do not remain unfilled, but that the additional employees start work in the citizens' offices as quickly as possible, thereby helping to relieve the situation in the offices."
In addition, a job pool is planned at the State Office for Citizens' and Regulatory Affairs to cushion peaks in workload at the citizens' offices. "The positions required for this will also be available from the start of 2024," assured Klement.
Klement expects noticeable effects in the next six months
At the same time, digitalization is progressing. "If we digitize other frequently requested citizen services and Berliners make use of them, I am confident that we will see really noticeable effects in the citizens' offices in the first half of next year," said the State Secretary, who is tasked with driving forward the modernization of the administration for the black-red Senate. "Unfortunately, however, this will not happen overnight."
However, it should not be forgotten that the districts had already begun to make preparations for the repeat election in February following the announcement of the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling for December 19.
It had been possible to provide the districts with positions from the Senate Chancellery budget so that they could set up permanent electoral offices in the districts. "If the districts have permanent electoral offices, they will no longer have to take staff away from the citizens' offices to prepare and hold elections in future," said Klement. "I therefore hope that the repeat election in spring will be the last election to have a negative impact on the scheduling situation in the citizens' offices."
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- Despite the plans, obtaining appointments at short notice at the citizens' offices in Berlin will remain challenging at the turn of the year, as acknowledged by the State Secretary for Administrative Modernization from the CSU, Martina Klement.
- Klement admitted that the situation in the citizens' offices has been difficult for years, and the measures implemented to improve it are progressing slowly.
- Kai Wegner, the governing mayor of Berlin from the CDU, had previously promised that the 14-day target for appointments would be achieved in 2023, with the aim of providing services to citizens without a 14-day wait.
- As part of the 14-day target project, the citizens' offices will receive an additional 100 jobs, with most of these positions currently being advertised.
- The state secretary has agreed with the districts to fill these vacancies within six months, or else they will be distributed to other districts to quickly relieve the situation in the citizens' offices.
- Klement also emphasized the importance of digitalization in the citizens' offices, hoping that the modernization of services will bring noticeable effects in the first half of the next year, although this process will take time.
Source: www.stern.de
