A briefing was held on the topic "New approaches in the development of the activities of Public Councils in Kazakhstan"

Today, January 6, 2021, a briefing was held at the Central Communications Service with the participation of speakers - Vice Minister of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan Bolat Tlepov, Chairperson of the Public Council in Healthcare Nadezhda Petukhova to discuss the main novelties and innovations of the Law "On Public Councils".

The speakers introduced the main provisions of the law, which introduces a number of changes aimed at improving the activities of the institution of public councils. “To ensure the autonomy and independence of public councils, it is proposed to elect the head of the Working Group on the formation of the Public Council from among the representatives of civil society,” Bolat Tlepov stressed. At the same time, the vice minister of information and social development said that the public councils will independently form a reserve list from among candidates and will be able to conduct additional contests to elect new members instead of those who have left. These norms will improve the efficiency of the activities of public councils, since the issues of the timely formation of the composition of councils is one of the problematic issues that require a timely solution.

The law also proposes a unified approach to establish the quantitative composition at the local level and quantitative parameters of the composition of public councils at the republican level. Along with this, it is proposed to normatively consolidate the procedure for organizing and conducting forms of public control, such as public hearings, public expertise, public monitoring, reports of heads of state bodies on the results of work. Public councils are given the opportunity to attract independent experts to carry out various forms of public control. During the briefing, Bolat Tlepov noted: “The Ministry of Information and Social Development has been identified as the authorized body for the activities of public councils, whose competence includes the coordination and methodological support of the activities of public councils.

It is planned to prepare and submit to the Head of State an annual National Report on Public Councils. " The law also proposed the introduction of a model for financing certain aspects of the activities of the public council, while the members of the public councils will carry out their activities on a voluntary basis, and the organizational support of the councils will be carried out at the expense of the corresponding budget (republican and local). As part of the execution of the order of the Head of State, voiced in the Address to the people of Kazakhstan, appropriate amendments were made to create public councils in the subjects of the quasi-public sector, their powers, rights and obligations were established, and the quantitative composition was determined.

One of the innovations of the law is to provide members of public councils with the right to participate in the work of procurement commissions of state bodies and subjects of the quasi-public sector. Let us remind you that public councils, as a form of dialogue between the state and civil society, were created within the framework of the implementation of the Plan of the Nation "100 Concrete Steps".