Lothar Finzelberg, County Councillor of the Jerichower Land Region and Deputy Member of the Board of the County Council Association of Saxony-Anhalt 1

Lothar Finzelberg, County Councillor of the Jerichower Land Region and Deputy Member of the Board of the County Council Association of Saxony-Anhalt

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Organisation of local services in rural areas with a declining population

- Example of a municipality in Saxony-Anhalt -

Conference on ‘EU funds for the improvement of services provided by the municipalities’, 20.11.2008, Riga


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1. Population trends in Saxony-Anhalt

2. Municipal structure in Saxony-Anhalt

3. The role of administrative districts in rural areas

4. Demographic change: an opportunity and a challenge

5. Recommended courses of action


Structure:


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1. Population trends in Saxony-Anhalt

• 1989: 2,964,971 inhabitants

• 2007: 2,412,472

Admin. districts: 1,858,103 Self-admin. towns: 554,369

• Forecast for 2025: 1,976,237

Admin. districts: 1,483,164 Self-admin. towns: 493,073

(- 20.2 %) (- 11.1 %)



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2. Municipal structure in Saxony-Anhalt (as per 01.11.2008)

• 11 administrative districts (up to 1994: 37 admin. districts; up to 2007: 21 admin. districts)

• 1,013 communities belonging to an administrative district, 130 with full-time staffing

• 3 self-administering towns



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3. The role of administrative districts in rural areas

• To fulfil public functions which are of regional importance, or the proper

fulfilment of which is beyond the administrative and financial scope of local communities.

• Examples: Youth services and social welfare

Schools (excl. primary schools)

Local public transport

Waste disposal

Music schools and adult education centres



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• Administrative districts in Germany all essentially face the same challenges, but have different population densities:

- Recklinghausen: 850 inhabs./km2

- Region of Hanover: 510 inhabs./km2

- Admin. dists. in S.-A.: 96 inhabs./km2

heterogeneous financial and administrative power



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• Greater economic power in rural areas

• Reversing the trend of young people migrating from the villages

• Improving municipal public services

• Hub towns to counteract rural erosion



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The example of local public transportAdministrative districts secure local public passenger transport by road, including school transport.

• Specification: max. 50 km within an hour (basic offer)

• Demand and reality

• Costs met from fares and public funding (reduction in subsidies!)

• Flexible operating forms

• Road construction – an important infrastructural measure for local public

passenger transport and

business

• Passenger numbers in decline – rising costs



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The example of schools

Adaptation of the school landscape

• falling school rolls

• yet the same concentration of schools

• higher technical specifications increase the costs of equipping schools

• the number of pupils has halved within 10 years

National targets for class sizes and class numbers should beapplied flexibly – approval for small schools in residential areas



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The example of medical care

• Rural doctors caring for twice as many patients as their urban counterparts; specialists in particularly short supply

• Administrative districts financially responsible for hospitals

• Improved dovetailing of in-patient and out-patient care required

Creation of incentives to encourage doctors to settle in rural areas (loans, grants, links to county hospitals)



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The example of integrated rural development concepts

• Administrative districts have devised concepts for economic and social development with rural area stakeholders

• Involvement of agriculture, communities, associations and business

• EU grants funding key projects

• Sustainability



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• Support for entrepreneurial development

- Entrepreneurial independence: essential for dynamic growth in employment

- Support for start-ups – provision of technology and start-up centres – cooperation with institutes of higher education

- Learning opportunities

- Funding advice

Advice – rapid licensing – the administration as service provider



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• Structural measures

- Municipal cooperation for joint fulfilment of tasks

- Integration of special authorities in municipalities as consolidated authorities

- Regional planning – hub towns as service centres with special cohesive power to meet the needs of the population

- Availability of sufficient funding for the fulfilment of duties



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Thank you for your attention!


Documents

Lothar Finzelberg, County Councillor of the Jerichower Land Region and Deputy Member of the Board of the County Council Association of Saxony-Anhalt 1