The State Chancellery takes over the functions of the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre (CSCC) as of 1 March 2023 by concentrating in one team the functions of long-term development of Latvia, development of public administration and cross-sectoral coordination. The State Chancellery is thereby strengthened as a government centre with broader analytical capabilities to support the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers in policy-making.
The experience gained over the last few years shows that, nowadays, a democratic country particularly requires a government centre, which is able to quickly adapt to rapidly changing circumstances and solve complex challenges in a coordinated manner, offering a high-quality analysis-based approach to the Cabinet of Ministers for decision-making. As a result of the merger of the State Chancellery and the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre, a united, strong team of experts is created to provide the support necessary for the work of the government with even greater capacity," says Jānis Citskovskis, Director of the State Chancellery.
The State Chancellery ensures the work of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers. To date, the State Chancellery has also been a driving force behind the public administration policy and human resource development. It has coordinated cooperation between the public administration institutions in the areas of public participation and good governance. As of 1 March, the State Chancellery will take over from the CSCC such functions as sustainable development planning of Latvia, supervision of the implementation of the government declaration, as well as governance of state-owned enterprises.
The State Chancellery started to take over the CSCC’s functions at the end of 2021, when Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš instructed both institutions to jointly prepare a plan for institutional merging.
Shortly afterwards, the State Audit Office published an audit report, with a proposal for the Cabinet of Ministers to strengthen the State Chancellery as a government centre in order to improve the possibility to implement and manage public administration reforms.
According to the OECD definition, the centre of government is a group of several institutions or a single institution charged with ensuring the work of the government and assisting in making more accurate, fact-based decisions. The government centre provides data analysis and research-based information necessary for the work of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Prime Minister by attracting experts from different fields and evaluating different scenarios for action.
The State Chancellery fully assumes both the functions and obligations of the CSCC as of 1 March 2023, ensuring the continuity of previous processes. The State Chancellery’s team is supplemented by the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Department, which includes the National Development Planning Division, the National Development Monitoring and Evaluation Division and the State-Owned Enterprise Governance Division. Former Head of the CSCC Pēteris Vilks will lead the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Department.
The Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre ceases to exist as of 1 March 2023.