The Transparency Agency was created in July 2015 with the goal of implementing an administration grounded upon transparency, participation, information, accountability to citizens and good governance. One year later, a Advisory Board for Metropolitan Transparency was created, made up of experts and scholars who hold debates and formulate nonbinding proposals and criteria in relation to the actions assigned to the Transparency Agency.
That same year, 2016, the Metropolitan Strategic Transparency Plan was developed in conjunction with several AMB directives and outside experts, while a programme of subsidies to the metropolitan town halls was implemented. To monitor it as indicated in the Metropolitan Action Plan (MAP), coordination and cooperation mechanisms with other institutions were established, especially with the supervisory and guarantee entities: the Commission to Guarantee the Right to Access Public Information (GAIP), the Catalan Data Protection Authority (APDCAT) and the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia (OAC).
Supralocal cooperation was also developed via a network of relationships with representatives from other administrations and organisations that oversee transparency. With the goal of coordinating and promoting good practices throughout Europe and internationally, it promoted several programmes of exchanges of experiences, knowledge and good practices, such as the Lorenzetti Programme, an international cooperation initiative between Bogota, Montreal, Paris and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area.
Ever since it was created, the Transparency Agency has participated in congresses, conferences and workshops, and it opened the AMB's Transparency Portal as part of its corporate website, which is fully interoperable with the Transparency Portal of Catalonia. It also created and Code of Ethics and Conduct for Senior Officials of the AMB, and in relation of the registry of lobbies stipulated by the PAM, it developed the SERGI Programme, an app to track relations with lobbies in accordance with Law 19/2014, dated 29 December 2014, which requires the calendars of senior officials and managerial staff of the administrations to be made public.
During this mandate, the Transparency Agency took over the promotion of gender equality in the AMB and spearheaded the Demèter Programme as an instrument to include the gender perspective into transparency policies and innovation in good governance projects. It also established methodological information and training instruments to promote good governance and open government, such as the Transparency Classroom, a continuous training programme which has held training workshops, international seminars and transparency dialogues. Other measures include the publication of Lux Barcelona, the metropolitan transparency magazine, and the promotion of research and ongoing training in transparency, the right of access and good governance as a metropolitan governance model by promoting a new line of subsidies for research.
Supralocal cooperation was also developed via a network of relationships with representatives from other administrations and organisations that oversee transparency. With the goal of coordinating and promoting good practices throughout Europe and internationally, it promoted several programmes of exchanges of experiences, knowledge and good practices, such as the Lorenzetti Programme, an international cooperation initiative between Bogota, Montreal, Paris and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area.
Ever since it was created, the Transparency Agency has participated in congresses, conferences and workshops, and it opened the AMB's Transparency Portal as part of its corporate website, which is fully interoperable with the Transparency Portal of Catalonia. It also created and Code of Ethics and Conduct for Senior Officials of the AMB, and in relation of the registry of lobbies stipulated by the PAM, it developed the SERGI Programme, an app to track relations with lobbies in accordance with Law 19/2014, dated 29 December 2014, which requires the calendars of senior officials and managerial staff of the administrations to be made public.
During this mandate, the Transparency Agency took over the promotion of gender equality in the AMB and spearheaded the Demèter Programme as an instrument to include the gender perspective into transparency policies and innovation in good governance projects. It also established methodological information and training instruments to promote good governance and open government, such as the Transparency Classroom, a continuous training programme which has held training workshops, international seminars and transparency dialogues. Other measures include the publication of Lux Barcelona, the metropolitan transparency magazine, and the promotion of research and ongoing training in transparency, the right of access and good governance as a metropolitan governance model by promoting a new line of subsidies for research.
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Creation and deployment of the Transparency Agency
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Functions and structure of the Transparency Agency
The Transparency Agency, created in July 2015, is the body serving the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and its associated entities and service providers whose prime mission is to implement an administration sustained on transparency, participation, information, accountability to citizens and good governance, while fostering a critical reflection on public policies and generating changes in the planning and intervention processes.
The permanent team of the Transparency Agency coordinates the deployment of its obligations on transparency matters as provided for in the laws by partnering with the different areas of AMB governance, services, associated entities and service providers.
To facilitate this mission, ever since the Agency was created it has been asking the people in charge of all the areas to appoint a point person, called a transparency liaison, in order to train an internal network of partners which is currently made up of more than 40 people.
Get to know the Transparency Agency
Our principles -
Budget
Gràfic Evolució del pressupost de l'Agència de Transparència (2016-2019)
In line with the context in which the Transparency Agency was implemented, in the first 3 budget years since this body was created its budget has been substantially increased in coherence with the growth in its structure, its taking on the functions assigned to it and the implementation of its programmes. In financial year 2019, according to the General Services guidelines, the budget has stabilised and the line items have been lowered by 10% in accordance with the general criteria applied to the AMB as a whole. -
Advisory Board for Metropolitan Transparency
The Advisory Board for Metropolitan Transparency holds debates, formulates nonbinding proposals and criteria in relation to the actions assigned to the Transparency Agency, and is made up of the following experts and scholars: Josep Maria Vallès Casadevall, Victòria Camps Cervera, Tomàs Font Llovet, Carme Ballbé Mallol, Manel Camós Grau, Joaquim Triadú and Vila-Abadal, Carme Ribas Seix and Mercè Barceló Serramalera. During this mandate, it has met every two months.
The Advisory Board and the careers of its members -
Metropolitan Strategic Transparency Plan
In application of PAM action 5.1.2.2., in 2016 the Transparency Agency started to lay the groundwork for the Metropolitan Strategic Transparency Plan in conjunction with different AMB managers and outside experts.
This groundwork of the strategic plan was presented to the meeting of the Management Council held on 28 November 2016. The strategic plan was approved at the end of the mandate with a long-term timeframe which addressed the stabilisation and consolidation phase of transparency and good governance once the initial phase of implementing this public policy was completed. Implementation of the planning tools is tracked via the annual reports on the state of implementation of the Metropolitan Action Plan 2015- 2019. -
Instructions and recommendations
In point 5.1.2.9, the Metropolitan Action Plan establishes an action which consists in fostering the principles of good governance in the sphere of services of general and universal interest in coordination with Europe-wide good practices.
The recommendations help interpret, provide guidelines and clarify the transparency legislation from a perspective applied to the metropolitan administration. Even though they do not establish a legal obligation for the recipients, their suggestive and clarifying nature indicates the appropriate procedure with the goal of preventing possible situations of opacity or risk stemming from bad practices.
During the 2015-2019 mandate, the Transparency Agency has issued 11 documents of this kind on different topics.
Instructions are administrative acts adopted by the bodies holding authorities which must be fulfilled by the recipient within the AMB. In some cases, the origin of the instruction was a previous recommendation whose content, which was initially a qualified suggested action, becomes mandatory. During this mandate, one circular and two instructions have been issued.
Recommendations
Instructions and circulars -
Code of Ethics and Conduct
The Transparency Agency has promoted the creation of the Code of Ethics and Conduct for Senior Officials in the AMB in the 2015-2019 mandate in accordance with action 5.1.1.3. in the Metropolitan Action Plan.
The Code is designed as a self-regulation instrument which becomes mandatory when individual adhesion commitments are signed. Even though it is not regulatory, it is bound to the penalty scheme of Law 19/2014 (title VII). It is targeted at all representative officials, all members of the Metropolitan Council, senior officials and managers of the AMB (executives, Area directors and service directors) and of its associated entities with analogous positions. For this reason, and for the purposes of the enforcing the Code, the Transparency Agency made an effort to identify these senior officials based on the information from each entity.
The AMB's Code of Ethics was implemented in three phases:
- Phase 1: Development and approval of the Code of Ethics and Conduct for Senior Officials of the AMB and its Associated Entities in conjunction with the Advisory Board for Metropolitan Transparency and via a participative process in which managerial officials with different profiles and AMB employees took part (June 2016-July 2017).
- Phase 2: Adhesion to the Code of Ethics and Conduct for Senior Officials of the AMB and its Associated Entities and administration of questionnaires to prevent conflicts of interest (May and June 2018).
- Phase 3: Implementation of the Code of Ethics and Conduct for Senior Officials of the AMB and its Associated Entities (July 2018 to today).
Number of officials in the AMB and associated entities who have adhered to the Code of Ethics by reference entity*
Entitat Signants No signants Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB) 12 22 Consell Metropolità 59 33 Institut Metropolità del Taxi (IMET) 8 2 Institut Metropolità de Promoció de Sòl i Gestió Patrimonial (IMPSOL) 6 0 Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) 36 7 AMB Informació i Serveis SA 0 2 Institut d'Estudis Regionals i Metropolitans de Barcelona (IERMB) 11 4 Consorci del Parc Natural de la Serra de Collserola 24 23 Consorci Besòs Tordera 3 8 Consorci Ecoparc 4 7 9 Consorci de l'Habitatge de l'Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona (CMH) TOTAL 166 110 (*) These figures express the total number of officials bound by the Code of Ethics and Conduct. Sometimes more than one job is held by the same person.Code of Ethics and Conduct -
Conflicts of interest: Questionnaires and management
The Transparency Agency has the mission of ensuring that the Code of Ethics and Conduct is applied. This mandate implies detecting and managing any conflicts of interest which may arise during the exercise of public authorities by senior officials and managerial staff of the AMB and associated entities.
Conflicts of interest questionnaires were administered during the months of May and June 2017. Once they are received, an exhaustive analysis will be made of possible conflicts of interest, and the appropriate management measures will be taken to minimise the risks that may exist.
Additionally, the Transparency Agency supports the people bound by the Code by being available to them for any clarification, interpretative question or ethical advice they may need in application of the precepts of the Code. This advisement, which is yet another way of managing conflicts of interest, is currently operating.
On the other hand, sound management of conflicts of interest necessarily entails the training and awareness-raising that the Transparency Agency provides. In this sense, throughout the mandate a series of specific training sessions were held, as outlined below. The "Continuous training and awareness-raising" section of this report more exhaustively explains the contents of these sessions:
- The Code of Ethics for Senior Officials of the AMB [20 July 2016].
- Ethical leadership and the importance of the Code of Ethics and Conduct [22 November 2028].
- The Code of Ethics in the AMB and associated entities. [29 March 2019].
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Registry of Lobbies
In action 5.1.1.4, the Metropolitan Action Plan calls for the creation of the Registry of Lobbies. The programme called SERGI is an app which tracks relationships with lobbies to meet the mandate of Law 19/2014, dated 29 December 2014, which requires the calendars of senior officials and managerial staff of the administrations, in this case local ones, to be made public in the Registry of Lobbies. Specifically, article 55.1.c) of the law considers the transparency of official activities, acts and decisions related to the management of public affairs which they are entrusted, and it stipulates that the official calendar must be published in the Registry of Lobbies as an ethical principles and rule of conduct.
Additionally, point 2.3 of the Code of Ethics and Conduct for Senior Officials of the AMB and its Associated Entities stipulates that the public calendar in relation to lobbies must be reported. Furthermore, it stipulates that the agenda of senior officials in their interactions with lobbies must be in the tracking system implemented by the Transparency Agency in order for them to be accountable in their jobs.
Given both mandates, and in view of the authorities attributed to the Transparency Agency, Presidential Decree 14/12/2015 launched the SERGI programme during the month of April 2017. The actions in relation to the Registry of Lobbies have been undertaken in the following three phases:
- Phase 1: AMB's adhesion to the Registry of Lobbies of Catalonia
- Phase 2: Instruction to track, record and monitor interactions with lobbies
- Phase 3: App to track relations with lobbies
- Presentation to the Executive Committee of the AMB [15 May 2018]
- Transparency dialogue with the transparency liaisons [6 June 2018]
- Presentació al Comitè Directiu de l'AMB [18 de juny de 2018]
- Presentation to the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia [18 July 2018]
- Presentation to the Barcelona Town Hall [12 December 2018]
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Demèter Programme: Transparency in gender equity
The Transparency Agency of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area is responsible for coordinating the actions and initiatives aimed at promoting transparency, facilitating the right of access to information and promoting innovation with good governance.
Within this framework, the Transparency Agency took over promoting gender equality in the AMB as one of the priority strands of action on innovation in good governance. To this end, it promoted the Demèter Programme as an instrument to incorporate the gender perspective in transparency policies in innovation in good governance programmes in order to contribute to attaining balance and co-responsibility between women and men.
Thus, on 28 November 2017 the AMB's Metropolitan Council was informed of the Presidential Decree issued on 22 November 2017 approving the implementation of the proposals contained in the Demèter Programme for transparency in gender equity in the metropolitan area and its dependent bodies, and it adhered to the inherent commitments contained in the adhesion document.
Currently, 18 metropolitan town halls and four associated entities have adhered to the programme.
The programme's objectives include:
- To incorporate the gender dimension in all data, fostering transparency in the visualisation of and access to data and reinforcing the principles of legality, equity and the promotion of equality.
- To encourage the diagnosis of the factors which are obstacles to equality in women's access to managerial careers through the application of the methodology of the Department of Labour of the Government of Catalonia (Practical Guide to Diagnosing the Equality of Women and Men in Companies and Organisations).
- To publish and disseminate the results of the diagnosis on equality between women and men.
- To develop instruments and boost training to constantly promote equal opportunities.
- To establish effective protection measures against sexual and sex-based harassment.
- To promote special execution conditions in public procurement related to promoting effective equality and preference in the awarding of contracts under certain circumstances by the bidding companies which have this kind of measure in place.
- To evaluate the impact of gender equality in the metropolitan area.
In the first quarter of 2019, meetings of the Demèter Working Group: Equity and Good Metropolitan Governance, were held which concluded with a document. The Transparency Agency's Transparency Classroom and Dialogues held specific workshops on gender equity as a factor in good governance and the Demèter Programme.
Demèter Programme
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Functions and structure of the Transparency Agency
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Institutional cooperation
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Subsidy programme for metropolitan town halls
Prior to the establishment of a cooperation programme with the metropolitan town halls to implement actions in the sphere of transparency, a pilot programme was undertaken in six small municipalities with special socioeconomic needs and needs for plural representation of the entire metropolitan political spectrum. The objective of the programme was to detect the priority areas and needs in order to define the future competitive calls for applications. The total amount earmarked was 36,000 euros, divided proportionally by each town hall, that is, 6,000 euros for each project on municipal initiative.
The second call for applications for town halls came as part of the 2017-2018 Strategic Subsidy Plan. The prior experience of the pilot programme was extraordinarily valuable in determining the preferential areas of action to be fostered and reinforced on a priority basis.
The total amount earmarked for this programme was 280,000 euros, divided equally between 2017 and 2018 among the 19 projects chosen out of a total of 29 according to the criteria stipulated in the conditions and the call for applications. This meant that requests amounting to approximately 155,000 euros were unattended.
The experience gained in the 2017-2018 programme to promote transparency targeted at the metropolitan town halls revealed the insufficiency of the means given the volume and quality of the projects submitted. For this reason, a new competitive call for applications earmarked a total of 340,000 euros was issued in the period 2018-2019, which was divided among the 23 projects submitted proportional to their scores.
Table 1 shows the gradual expansion of the subsidy programme for metropolitan town halls along with a summary of the number of projects subsidised and the amount earmarked in the period 2016-2019.
Subsidy programmes No. of projects Total amount (in €) Pilot programme 2016 6 36,000 2017-2018 call for applications 19 280,000 2018-2019 call for applications 23 340,000 TOTAL (period 2016-2019) 48 656,000
Call for participation and award of subsidies 2017-2018
Call for participation and award of subsidies 2018-2019 -
Cooperation with the supervisory and guarantee bodies
The Metropolitan Action Plan promotes coordination and cooperation with other institutions in the sphere of transparency via action 5.1.1.6, especially with the supervisory and guarantee entities: the Commission to Guarantee the Right to Access Public Information (GAIP), the Catalan Data Protection Authority (APDCAT) and the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia (OAC).
Since 2016, seven requests for public information managed by the Transparency Agency were the subject of grievances before the GAIP by the persons who requested this information to dispute the denial of access or the access given. The resolution of these requests was the following: three were grouped into a single resolution, since they were identical requests (two are in the court system), two were rejected by the GAIP and two are pending resolution.
The Agency also participated in tracking two complaints submitted against information access resolutions from Metropolitan Transports of Barcelona (TMB), as an entity associated with the AMB. In line with the mission of the Transparency Agency, tracking reports were issued on the status of the matter.
On the other hand, the Transparency Agency has filed several consultations on general topics which have led the GAIP to issue five rulings.
The Transparency Agency has requested a report from the APDCAT within a request for public information access concerning the identifying data of AMB personnel, as well as the possibility of outsourcing the figure of the data protection delegate, as contained in the new European data protection regulation which entered into force in 2018.
The Transparency Agency works with the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia to write and issue reports based on the requests and petitions submitted to this body. In this context, the Transparency Agency has issued the four reports listed below:
- Report analysing the TMB's degree of compliance with transparency obligations.
- Report analysing the different public procurements that went to an awardee company based on an anonymous complaint.
- Report on the AMB's contributions to union organisations.
- Analysis of the tender of the Aerobús contract.
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Supralocal cooperation
Ever since it was created, the Transparency Agency has woven a web of relations with representatives from other state or metropolitan administrations and bodies which advocate for transparency, public integrity, good governance and the prevention of corruption, fraud and conflicts of interest. With the goal of coordinating and promoting good practices in Europe and internationally, as called for in action 5.1.2.9. of the Metropolitan Action Plan, the Transparency Agency has promoted several programmes to exchange experiences, knowledge and good practices as part of its web of relations. The goal of these exchanges is to promote mutual learning on the challenges faced by the different bodies specialising in transparency, public integrity and corruption prevention, along with the solutions being promoted by these bodies.
The Lorenzetti Programme is an international cooperation initiative between Bogota, Montreal, Paris and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area promoted by the Transparency Agency to foster the exchange of experiences and good practices in the deployment of policies related to transparency, public integrity, corruption prevention and good governance.
Based on the interest expressed by the heads of transparency and public integrity of these four metropolitan areas, it was agreed to formalise the establishment of the Lorenzetti Programme by signing a memorandum of understanding between the Office of the Inspector General of Montreal, the District Oversight Office of Bogota, the Mayor's Office of Paris and the Transparency Agency of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. The agreement was approved by the AMB's Board of Governance on 15 May 2018 and later signed by the director of the Transparency Agency and the representatives of the other signatories.
The memorandum of understanding to establish the Lorenzetti Programme calls for periodic exchanges of general information on the main initiatives that each of the parties has undertaken, the commitment to provide more detailed information if one of the parties expresses a special interest, and in-person meetings to share the advances that have been made and identify the policies and good practices which may be exchanged, especially in the areas of corruption prevention, management of conflicts of interest, the transparency methodology implemented, ethics and public integrity. Ultimately, the memorandum of understanding of the Lorenzetti Programme calls for a summary document to be drawn up that contains the contributions of all the signatories.
As called for in the memorandum of understanding, throughout the last few months several multilateral gatherings, bilateral meetings and videoconferencing contacts have been held to materialise the exchange of good practices. These diverse exchanges include the participation of representatives from Bogota, Montreal and Paris in the different editions of the International Transparency Seminar, along with an in-person meeting on 9, 10 and 11 May 2018.
The Network of Transparent Governments of Catalonia is the framework for ongoing, stable coordination, cooperation and exchange of information to ensure local implementation of the Law on Transparency.
Ever since the AMB joined the Network of Transparent Governments, the Transparency Agency has coordinated its participation in different working groups which examine different topics of mutual interest: local transparency, information and communication technologies, participation, training, code of conduct, Registry of Lobbies, registry of agreements and the Catalan candidacy for the Open Government Partnership (OGP).
On 29 July 2018, at the proposal of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia, a gathering of Spanish anticorruption offices and agencies was held, which also included the participation of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, the recently created Anti-Fraud Office of the Balearic Islands, the Audit Council of Galicia and the Transparency Offices of the town halls of Madrid and Barcelona. After that first gathering, it was agreed to set up a Network of Anticorruption Offices and Agencies of Spain as a stable network with periodic meetings to share strategies and knowledge in the struggle against fraud and corruption and to promote cooperation among counterpart organisations.
This stable network was also joined by the AMB's Transparency Agency, which participated in the second gathering held in Valencia on 14 December 2018. This second gathering analysed the impact of setting gender quotas in municipal elections on lowering the corruption of local governments, and it debated the way the new technologies can be applied to prevent fraud and corruption in certifications of public works.
The European Lobbying Registrars' Network was launched in March 2018 with the participation of 12 delegates who represented a total of 7 European countries: Austria, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Scotland, United Kingdom, Slovenia and the European Union (Parliament and Commission). The network was established as an informal forum to exchange experiences and good practices in areas of mutual interest. Despite the legislative and structural differences of each body and each country, it is clear that the lobby regulators share many objectives, and the network is a way to share experiences. The network will have a two-year rotating presidency.
Since January 2019, the Transparency Agency has been included in this network in the formalisation stages with the goal of participating in the exchange of experiences and good practices.
Webpage on the Network of Transparent Governments of Catalonia
Informative note on the gathering of the Network of Anticorruption Offices and Agencies in Valencia -
Participation in congresses and conferences
Throughout the entire mandate, the Transparency Agency has been invited to participate in numerous congresses, conferences and workshops to debate the challenges of transparency, public integrity and good governance and to contribute its vision, experience and knowledge of the policies that the AMB is promoting on these matters.
List of the most important events in which the Transparency Agency has actively participated:
- Transparency workshop organised by the Santa Coloma de Gramenet town hall [8 February 2016]
- Workshop on "The institutional challenge of lobbies" organised by the Centre of Legal Studies and Specialised Training at the Leather Museum of Igualada [15 July 2016]
- Round table and launch of the book Contractació oberta (Open Procurement) at the Palau de la Generalitat [12 May 2017]
- Workshop of the Woman, Enterprise and Economy Observatory (ODEE) at CaixaFòrum in Barcelona [1 March 2017 and 28 February 2018]
- World Metropolis Congress in Montreal [19-22 June 2017]
- Post-Habitat III International Conference in the Espai Francesca Bonnemaison of Barcelona [22 May 2018]
- TMB workshop on the New European Data Protection Regulation at the Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona [25 May 2018]
- Debate on governability, participative democracy and social development organised by the Club de Roma at the Palau Macaya in Barcelona [12 July 2018]
- Third International Transparency Congress in Cádiz [26-28 September 2018]
- Workshop of the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia on accountability in Barcelona [25 January 2019]
- Launch of the book Nou veus reflexionen al voltant del govern obert (New Voices Reflect on Open Government) at the Palau de la Generalitat [4 March 2019]
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Subsidy programme for metropolitan town halls
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Right of access to information, active publicity and accountability
Title III of Law 19/2014 on transparency, access to public information and good governance referring to the exercise of access to public information entered into force six months after it was published, and therefore on 1 July 2015, according to the fourth additional provision of the same law.
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Procedure on the right of access to public information
Using its authorities on matters of the right of access and action 5.1.1.2 of the Metropolitan Action Plan, the Transparency Agency developed a Circular on the procedure to exercise the right of access to public information in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, which was approved on 2 March 2016 by the presidency of the AMB, and which the Metropolitan Council acknowledged in its session on 29 March 2016.
In order to make it easier to submit requests to exercise the right of access and fulfil the provisions of articles 26 and 27 of Law 19/2014, a form was set up on the AMB's Transparency Portal which contains the requirements and necessary data. Likewise, a graphic illustration of the procedure was published which briefly describes the different steps that a request for access to public information may follow.
Links to Circular website
Recommendations -
Management of requests
In the exercise of its functions, the Transparency Agency has centralised the requests for rights to access information submitted to the AMB since 2015. The tables below show a summary of the information from this period. It should be borne in mind that the only request issued in 2015 was tallied in 2016.
The data on the management of requests for the right of access to information in the period analysed (2016-2018) show a general upswing in the total number of requests registered and a diversification in the fields to which they refer. However, transport and mobility and general services are the areas which concentrate the most requests, and together they account for at least two-fifths of the total (table below).
Requests for the right of access to public information according to the matter
2016 2017 2018 Number of requests % of requests Number of requests % of requests Number of requests % of requests Transports and mobility 8 23.5 38 77.6 26 41.3 General services 13 38.2 7 14.3 7 27.0 Environment 13 0.0 0 0.0 5 7.9 Social and economic development 0 0.0 1 2.0 5 7.9 Transparency Agency 0 0.0 0 0.0 3 4.8 Public space 1 2.9 0 0.0 2 3.2 Presidency 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 3.2 Associated entities 0 0.0 3 6.1 2 3.2 Urban development 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 1.6 Total 35 100.0 49 100.0 63 100.0
On the other hand, the route by which most of the requests enter (table below) is referrals from other administrations that do not hold the authorities or from the entry register. Despite the fact that a specific instrument was created on the Transparency Portal with this purpose in mind, the use of the online form is quite minimal and never accounts for 10% of the requests submitted.
Form of entry of the requests
2016 2017 2018 Number of requests % of requests Number of requests % of requests Number of requests % of requests
Entry register18 51.4 7 14.3 19 30.2 Referral from other administrations 14 40.0 41 83.7 38 60.3 Online form 3 8.6 1 2.0 3 4.8 Email 0 0.0 0 0.0 3 4.8 Total 35 100.0 49 100.0 63 100.0
Most of the requests submitted (table below) have been resolved favourably with the release of the requested information (almost fourth-fifths) and the number of rejected requests never reaches 10% of the total in any year. The most common mechanism by which access is provided to the requested information is electronically, which accounts for almost 90%, except in 2016, when this figure was 75.9%.
For more information on the complaints lodged with the GAIP, check the section on cooperation with the supervisory and guarantee bodies.
Resolution of requests on right of access
2016 2017 2018* Number of requests % of requests Number of requests % of requests Number of requests % of requests
nformation released29 82.9 44 89.8 50 82.0 Rejected 2 5.7 4 8.2 6 9.8 Tacit acceptance without release 4 11.4 0 0.0 5 8.2 Rejected by interested party 0 0.0 1 2.0 0 0.0 Total 35 100.0 49 100.0 61 100.0
(*) For 2018, there are two requests still being resolved.
In relation to the response time of the requests, the figures in the table below also show an improvement from 24.5 working days in 2016 to 22.1 in 2018. Another aspect worth noting and shown by the tracking of the right of access is a tendency for the requests to concentrate in a single petitioner: while a single petitioner submitted 26% of the requests in 2016, this percentage increased to 69% in 2017. In 2018, 40% of all requests came from a single person.
Average response of requests for the right of access (in working days) and number of petitioners
2016 2017 2018* Average response (in working days) 24.5 23.5 22.1 Number of petitioners 4 10 20
Until February 2019, there had been seven requests for access, which are in different phases of processing. For this reason, no related conclusions or statistics are issued.
Cooperation with supervisory and guarantee bodies
Circular on the procedure to exercise the right of access to public information in the AMB
Recommendation to reinforce the procedure to exercise the right of access regulated by circular 02/03/2016 -
Transparency Portal
Action 5.1.2.3. of the Metropolitan Action Plan 2015-2019 calls for the creation of the AMB's Transparency Portal as part of its corporate website, which should be fully interoperable with the Transparency Portal of Catalonia. To meet this objective and the active publicity obligations provided for in the Law on Transparency, on 18 March 2016 the AMB's Transparency Portal (http://transparencia.amb.cat) was launched. With the goal of extending the constant improvement in the metropolitan administration's transparency to all the entities in the metropolitan public sector, the launch of the AMB's Transparency Portal was coordinated to dovetail with the launch of the TMB's Transparency Portal.
The contents of the Transparency Portal are organised into four main sections:
- Basic information on the functioning, organisation and services of the Transparency Agency.
- The instruments and programmes undertaken to implement transparency and good governance policies.
- The transparency windows that provide access to public information by different means, which include the training awareness-raising actions organised by the Transparency Agency.
- The initiatives to promote good governance: Code of Ethics and Conduct, Registry of Lobbies and Demèter Programme on transparency in gender equity.
- Since the launch of the Transparency Portal, the contents have constantly been revised and updated and new information has been added as Transparency Agency initiatives and programmes have been implemented.
AMB's Transparency Portal
Press release on the launch of the Transparency Portal -
Information monitoring, active publicity and transparency (MIPAT)
MIPAT is a prime instrument that directly observes the information published on websites to measure the level of publication of the contents stipulated in title II of Law 19/2014, while also identifying the strengths and threats in compliance with active publicity obligations. This tool enables any corrective measures needed to be spearheaded, while prioritising actions which have the greatest impact on good governance and the integrity of public management. The system is based on 160 parameters classified into categories and subcategories referring to the public administrations and public-sector entities divided into five priority levels.
The MIPAT was developed between April and July 2017 based on previous work which detected the main parameters, and the process was organised into the five phases listed below:
- Definition of the transparency parameters based on the contents established in the referents on the matter and previous work.
- Classification and grouping of the contents into six main categories and 20 subcategories.
- Identification of the contents applicable to the public administrations and the public-sector entities.
- Prioritisation of the transparency contents into five priority levels.
- Development of an analysis and monitoring system.
Once the analysis methodology had been designed and presented, the Transparency Agency started drawing up five different kinds of periodic individual transparency monitoring reports depending on their exhaustiveness and the contents analysed:
- Basic report: This analyses the top-priority parameters (priority 1).
- Executive report: This analyses the parameters in priority 1 and 2.
- Exhaustive report: This analyses parameters 1, 2, 3 and 4.
- InfoParticipa report: This analyses the parameters corresponding to the InfoParticipa indicators.
- ITA report: This analyses the parameters corresponding to the International Transparency Index.
Since July 2017, when the design of the MIPAT methodology was considered finished, a total of 15 reports have been written, at least one for each of the AMB's associated entities. Most of these reports (66.7%) are basic, since many of the entities had only begun to implement the transparency obligations. Specific reports were drawn up twice: the first on procurement and an institutional and organisational report in the second. These reports have been submitted to the reference institutions or are slated to be submitted to them soon.
Total and type of MIPAT reports issued in the 2015-2019 mandate
Entity Basic Executive Exhaustive Specific Total Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) 1 0 1 1 3 AMB Informació i Serveis SA 1 1 0 0 2 Consorci Besòs Tordera 1 0 0 0 1 Consorci ECOPARC4 1 0 0 0 1 Consorci Metropolità de l'Habitatge (CMH) 1 0 0 0 1 Consorci del Parc de Collserola 1 0 0 0 1 Institut d'Estudis Regionals i Metropolitans (IERMB) 1 0 0 0 1 Institut Metropolità del Sòl i Gestió Patrimonial (IMPSOL) 1 0 0 0 1 Institut Metropolità del Taxi (IMET) 1 1 0 0 2 Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) 1 0 0 1 2 TOTAL INFORMES 10 2 1 2 15 TOTAL INFORMES (en %) 66.7% 13.3% 6.7% 13.3% 100.0%
Evaluation of transparency -
Transparency in public procurement
Using the Transparency Agency's authorities in good governance, either at the request of other departments or bodies or on its own initiative, it has analysed different procurement proceedings in order to determine whether the proceedings abide by the regulations in force on this matter. Likewise, the Agency has intervened contractually by helping develop the social criteria that AMB tender policies should apply and issuing requirements on different aspects of the contractual activity undertaken by the AMB, such as urging active publicity for minor contracts.
In terms of the recommendations on contractual matters, number 1/2016 dated 8/1/16 was issued on the "Public Registry of Contracts of the Government of Catalonia – AMB" and number 1/2017 dated 27/2/17 was issued on "Data protection in information published on the contracts signed by the AMB".
The objective of action 5.1.26. of the Metropolitan Action Plan is to promote the inclusion of transparency clauses in procurement processes, concessions and all service management modalities. In this vein, the Agency issued recommendation 3/2016 dated 24 February 2016 on the inclusion of transparency clauses in lists of conditions and/or contracts. Subsequently, this recommendation was issued as a mandatory instruction after being adopted by the Metropolitan Council on 31 January 2017. After that date, the lists of particular economic-administrative conditions governing tenders issued by the AMB have gradually incorporated the transparency clauses contained in the aforementioned instruction.
Instructions and circulars
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Procedure on the right of access to public information
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Continuous training, awareness-raising and research
In accordance with action 5.1.1.1 del Metropolitan Action Plan, the Transparency Agency has established methodological information and training instruments to promote good governance and open government. To do so, the different kinds of instruments described below have been designed.
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Transparency Classroom
The Agency's Transparency Classroom is a continuous training programme on transparency, access to public information and good governance which is organised in conjunction with experts from universities and other institutions and administrations. The Classroom sessions are targeted at the AMB's transparency liaisons, all interested staff in the metropolitan administration, managers and technical staff at associated entities and service providers, and elected officials and staff of the metropolitan municipalities and other public institutions and administrations in Catalonia. Training workshops, international seminars and transparency dialogues have been held within this framework.
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Training workshops
During this mandate, 10 training workshops were held on transparency; right of access to information; public procurement; document management and good governance, conflicts of interest and prevention of criminal risks; innovation in good governance; gender equality and transparency; the new law on public procurement; transparency and financing of political parties and unions; the new data protection regulation; gender equity, the core of metropolitan good governance; and urban development, planning, procurement and risks of corruption.
Below is a list of the different workshops delivered by Agency's Transparency Classroom:
- 1st Workshop: Challenges of applied transparency: A shared undertaking [3 June 2016]
- 2nd Workshop: Transparency, right of access and public procurement: Practical issues [5 July 2016]
- 3rd Workshop: Document management and good governance [16 September 2016]
- 4th Workshop: Transparency in public procurement, conflicts of interest and prevention of criminal risks [17 March 2017]
- 5th Workshop: Innovation in good governance: Gender equality and transparency [5 May 2017]
- 6th Workshop: Pathway in the new Law on Public Procurement: Transparency and good governance [21 February 2018]
- 7th Workshop: Transparency and financing of political parties and unions [20 April 2018]
- 8th Workshop: The new General Data Protection Regulation. Most important new aspects and practical considerations [20 June 2018]
- 9th Workshop: Gender equity, the core of metropolitan good governance [9 October 2018]
- 10th Workshop: Urban development, planning, procurement and risks of corruption [13 February 2019]
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International seminars
Since 2016, the Agency has also held three annual international seminars as part of the training programme of the Transparency Classroom with the goal of promoting dialogue among experts, scholars and professionals in public management and citizenship which combine in-depth legal analyses in the sphere of transparency, good governance and corruption prevention with comparative reflections.
These sessions are held every year at the Barcelona Bar Association and last two days. In this mandate, the following international seminars were organised:
- 1st international seminar: The new paradigm of metropolitan transparency: Challenges of good governance [15-16 December 2016]
- 2nd International seminar: Fostering good governance [23-24 November 2017]
- 3rd International Transparency Seminar: Public-private integrity for a new governance [8-9 November 2018]
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Transparency Dialogues
This kind of training is led by world-class speakers with proven experience on the matter in order to develop focused, specialised questions.
The issues discussed in the Transparency Dialogues analyse the challenges posed and practical solutions applied in matters like the Code of Ethics and Conduct, its importance and implementation, ethical leadership, the prevention of criminal risks, the Demèter Programme and promoting gender equality, the role of the transparency liaisons, presentations of the Transparency Agency's programmes, female leadership, public-private management, accountability, the right of access to information, ethics in urban planning, good governance and corruption prevention, good governance in the face of inequality, the right of bidders and guarantees of good governance, and institutional improvements in transparency and accountability systems.
Below is a list of the different dialogues offered by the Transparency Agency:
- The Code of Ethics and Conduct for Senior Officials in the AMB [20 July 2016]
- Prevention of criminal risks [17 February 2017]
- Demèter Programme on transparency and promoting gender equality as an instrument for innovation in good governance [5 July 2017]
- Presentation of the Information Monitoring System, active publicity and transparency [24 October 2017]
- Presentation of external transparency and good governance evaluation by universities [2 March 2018]
- Functions of the transparency liaisons and presentation of the SERGI app to track relations with lobbies [6 June 2018]
- Ethical leadership and the importance of the Code of Ethics and Conduct [22 November 2018]
- Female leadership [23 November 2018]
- The new paradigm of public-private management [28 November 2018]
- Communicating the story in accountability [19 December 2018]
- Access to information: Right of access or condition or the interested party? [30 January 2019]
- The ethical challenges of urban planning [7 February 2019]
- Good governance, today [20 February 2019]
- Good governance in the face of inequality [27 February 2019]
- Processes in the right of access in the AMB and associated entities versus active publicity: Practical issues [6 March 2019]
- Rights of bidders and guarantees of good governance [11 March 2019]
- Institutional improvements in transparency and accountability systems [20 March 2019]
- The Code of Ethics of the AMB and its Associated Entities. Tracking compliance [29 March 2019]
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Lux Barcelona magazine
The metropolitan transparency magazine, Lux Barcelona, is a periodical publication from the AMB's Transparency Agency to foster debate, awareness-raising and training in the sphereS of transparency, public integrity and good governance. To this end, the goal was to produce a tangible product, preferably a high-quality paper publication, which could encourage careful, in-depth reflection.
The magazine combines in-depth legal analyses with brief reflections by authors with a wide range of careers and profiles to provide a humanistic vision of the challenges of democratic governance from multiple perspectives. The very title of the magazine, Lux ("light" in Latin), is precisely a concept which in philosophy and art has traditionally been contrasted to darkness, shadows and evil. This is the idea that the magazine pursues: putting the spotlight on the tools and reflection that enable transparency to be integrated and to advocate for good governance in the operation of the AMB.
The first issue of the magazine Lux Barcelona was published in November 2017 and includes an introduction from the president of the AMB, Ada Colau, and a reflection by Gemma Calvet on the value and challenges of applied transparency. This first issue focuses on public services of general or universal interest. On the one hand, Isabel Baixeras breaks down the transparency obligations of companies that provide public services and entities that receive public funds, while on the other, Stefan Rating and Yolanda Martínez analyse the possibilities of remunicipalising the services of general interest from the standpoint of authorities. This first issue also contains four brief reflections by Natza Farré, Carles Casajuana, Llucia Ramis and Salvador Cardús as well as a series of photographs on the metropolitan reality and policies by the famous photographer Kim Manresa and illustrations by the graphic op-ed artist Jordi Duró.
The launch of the first issue of Lux Barcelona was held on 6 March 2018 at the Barcelona Bar Association with the participation of the magazine's authors and editor, different authorities and a large general public.
The second issue of Lux Barcelona was published in January 2019 and examined public integrity, the ethics code and relations with lobbies. This second issue, introduced by a reflection on the obstacles to transparency by Gemma Calvet, was grounded upon the two cornerstones of public integrity: identifying and preventing criminal risks, by Marc Molins, and metropolitan financing of political parties and unions, by Pau Bossacoma. Just like the first volume, the magazine also included humanistic reflections by Begoña Román, Francesc Torralba, Miguel Ángel Gimeno and Mònica Planas, as well as the viewpoints of photographer Kim Manresa and illustrations by the graphic op-ed artist Jordi Duró.
The third volume of Lux Barcelona (being edited as this report is sent to publication) is a monograph devoted to gender equity. Starting with an analysis of female talent in the metropolitan area by Carme Poveda, the third volume of the magazine is planned to be a choral, polyhedral reflection on the multiple challenges and dimensions of gender equality as an essential linchpin of good governance.
Lux Barcelona magazine on metropolitan transparency
Issue 1 of the magazine Lux Barcelona -
Accountability: Exhibition on "People and landscapes: Metropolitan cities"
Objective 1.2 of the Metropolitan Action Plan 2015-2019 on good governance and transparency stipulates the commitment to work with the metropolitan municipalities in the spheres of transparency, public information and good governance. With this goal in mind, based on around 100 photographs taken by the photographer Kim Manresa to illustrate the magazine Lux Barcelona, the Transparency Agency produced a travelling exhibition in conjunction with the municipal town halls to raise citizens' awareness of the metropolitan reality with surprising and little-known photographs on everyday lives in the 36 towns and cities which comprise the metropolitan area.
Kim Manresa is considered one of the top photographers in Europe. Throughout his career, he has worked for the newspaper La Vanguardia as a graphic reporter, covering state and international news; he has made countless photographic reports in different countries around the world to bring visibility to the more forgotten sectors of society and to condemn indifference, lack of commitment and solidarity towards social issues; he has published more than 30 books; his works have been displayed all over the world in more than 1,000 exhibitions; and he has earned numerous prizes and recognitions. His most prominent reports condemning social issues are on child prostitution, poverty, female genital mutilation and drug addiction, and they have contributed to raising society's awareness of these problems. The opening of this travelling exhibition was held on 25 February 2019 in the Sala Josep i Pere Santilari at the Tirant lo Blanc Library in Montgat.
Opening of the exhibition by Kim Manresa in Montgat -
Agreements with university research centres
According to the Presidential Decree dated 14 December 2015 (BOPB dated 8 January 2016), the mission of the Transparency Agency includes promoting research and ongoing training in transparency, right of access and good governance as a metropolitan model of governance. It should also promote and coordinate actions to foster transparency through training and creating and adapting internal protocols.
These functions of the Agency are aimed at fostering transparency and good governance, meant as a set of principles, values, norms and good practices which should guide the actions of senior officials, managers and other public sector workers with the goal of ensuring that the administrations operate with the utmost transparency and public ethics and that the services are high-quality, efficient and useful for people.
These functions are reinforced in the AMB's Metropolitan Action Plan, definitively approved by the plenary of the Metropolitan Council held on 28 September 2016, which is the document that contains the milestones that the institution pledges to achieve during the 2015-2019 mandate.
Within this framework, in 2017 and 2018 the Transparency Agency signed agreements with different universities in order to foster research into new transparency and good governance matters. The table below summarises the most relevant information on the six projects subsidised in this period.
Projects subsidised by the Transparency Agency to encourage research
Year University Research group Project Subsidy (in €) Lead researcher 2017 Universitat de Barcelona Grup de recerca Aporia Development of indicators and evaluation of public ethics and codes of conduct 20,000.00 Begoña Román 2018 Universitat de Barcelona Grup de recerca Aporia Ethical criteria in urban planning 19,759.80 Begoña Román 2017 Universitat de Barcelona Fundació Bosch i Gimpera Right of access to the proceeding and its connection with the right of access to public information 20,000.00 Juli Ponce 2017 Universitat Pompeu Fabra Departament de Ciències Polítiques i Socials Model of active publicity, model of analysing the mechanisms of accountability in the sphere of mobility in the AMB and case study on taxi regulation and model of analysis of the right of access to public information in the AMB using the qualitative methodology of the mystery user 20,000.00 Jacint Jordana 2018 Universitat Pompeu Fabra Departament de Ciències Polítiques i Socials Institutional improvement of transparency and accountability systems 20,000.00 Jacint Jordana 2018 Universitat Pompeu Fabra Observatori de l'Evolució de les Institucions (OBSEI) Right of access to public information and administrative right 20,000.00 Oriol Mir -
Subsidies for research into transparency
In October 2018, the Transparency Agency promoted a new line of subsidies for research in the field of transparency, access to public information and good governance for the period 2018-2019, following action 5.1.1.5 del Metropolitan Action Plan. This initiative was motivated by the considering of converting the line of fostering synergies with research (agreements mentioned above) with this line of subsidies, via announcement and competitive applications open to both physical persons and legal entities, the latter without their own legal personality.
In this way, via the conditions and call for subsidies, the goal is to foster and promote research and innovation in the sphere of transparency, access to public information and good governance in order to generate knowledge and the culture of transparency in the metropolitan area.
The regulatory conditions were initially approved on 30 October 2018, and the definitive approval was published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona (BOPB) on 28 January 2019, without any claims in the public information phase. The call for applications for subsidies was published in the BOPB on 5 February 2019.
The purpose of the subsidies is to conduct research projects related to the different spheres of action established in Law 19/2014, dated 29 December 2014, on transparency, access to public information and good governance.
The beneficiaries are physical persons and legal entities, the latter only non-profits, that submit an application and documentation on time and in the right way along with a proposed project in accordance with the criteria stipulated by the regulatory conditions of the call for applications.
The total amount earmarked to subsidies for research is 60,000 euros.
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Transparency Classroom