The Cabildo of Gran Canaria approves a budget of 916 million to continue moving forward

The Plenary Session of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria approved today, in an extraordinary session, the budget of the Institution for 2024 of 916.686.668 euros, which represents an increase of 8,19% compared to 2023, that is, 69.421.824 euros more. These are the first accounts of the new mandate of the integrated progressive island government by Nueva Canarias and the Canary Socialist Party-PSOE, whose councilors supported the proposal, compared to the votes against the opposition parties, PP, Canarian Coalition and VOX, which presented amendments to the entirety. 

 

The president of the Gran Canaria Government, Antonio Morales, stated in his speech that these are budgets prepared “to continue advancing in the social and economic transformation of Gran Canaria”, an Island where, as he highlighted, “the indicators present an economic evolution and diversification of the economy are positive, while poverty rates have been decreasing.” Furthermore, he specified that the indicators of energy, employment, Primary Sector, blue economy and mobility are the most positive of the island territories and that the Cabildo of Gran Canaria is identified as the Administration with the highest percentage of execution of its investments.  

 

And, as Morales already stated, in the act of presenting these accounts to the citizens, this budget consolidates the political commitment of the Gran Canaria Government to continue promoting the progress of the Island and to provide answers to three fundamental challenges: strengthening services public services that serve the elderly, minors and disabilities, as well as essential services of insular competence; pay attention to the most vulnerable, addressing unemployment, poverty and social exclusion, gender violence and inequality, and, thirdly, reactivate the island economy, without losing sight of the ecosocial, sustainable and diversified.

 

Thus, in these accounts, social policies, in which social, educational, employment, solidarity, housing and citizen participation and coexistence measures come together, receive 28,73% of the funds, that is, 263.326.603 ,XNUMX euros, more than a quarter of the total. An amount that implies dedicating to this area 12.081.157 euros more in that 2023 and 21 million more than in 2022 and which is configured as eThe greatest effort in this area in the history of the Institution.

 

To this effort we must add the one that is going to be carried out in actions in the economic field, whose overall amount reaches 311.974.460 euros, which is 34.03% of the total and which means raising the figures of the budget of 40.730.053 euros. Gran Canaria in 2023 and 70 million in 2022. In short, The items dedicated to economic development and social policies total 575.301.063 euros and account for 62,76% of the 2024 budgets. 

 

Likewise, this budget assigns 209.731.185 euros to the investment chapter, 22,88% of the funds, and 25.750.966 euros more than the current year and 50 million more than 2022. A figure that, as As President Morales also stressed at the time, it will allow progress in the 'Plan Transforma', as well as in road projects, commercial and industrial areas, public housing policies, renovation of tourist infrastructure, improvements in mobility and public transportation, cooperation plans, hydraulic infrastructures, socio-health centers, World Heritage and Biosphere Reserve, archaeological parks and historical heritage, employment, landscape regeneration, eco-parks, agriculture and livestock, in areas such as renewables and the modernization of the administration, among others.

 

It is relevant to highlight that, when making comparisons with previous budgets, the amounts that are not financed by the Cabildo have not been considered, but rather that the insular Corporation administers: the Canary Financing Block and the IGTE of the town councils, which has a treatment extrabudgetary. In fact, if the 207.490.766 euros that are transferred directly to the town councils for these two concepts were included, The Cabildo's budget for 2024 would rise to 1.124.182.760 euros.

 

On the other hand, in the expenses section 67,9 million are included from the Canary Islands Development Fund (Fdcan), of which 51,15 belong to the Cabildo and 16,83 to the town councils, and, in the income budget, 50% corresponding to the amount of the Cabildo and 100% to that of the town councils. The 84.822.201 euros that remain to complete the Fdcan 2024 annuity are municipal contributions and will appear in the budgets of local governments. 

 

 

It is also notable that, This year, as already happened in 2022, the island Government has not had to resort to loans to cover the financing needs of the budgets. Thus, the current debt amounts to 1.148.855 euros and the Corporation's debt capacity allows it to access 720.998.828 more credit, if it reaches the limit of 110% of the recognized rights and having to execute a debt reduction plan. debt. However, if it stays at 75%, it can reach up to 491.590.110 euros more, without this debt reduction plan. 

 

Finally, it must be taken into account that, at this time, the Cabildo has 103.360.765 million of remainders, which can also be incorporated into the 2024 budgets and which will increase with those generated this year. 

New Organic Regulations, greater modernity in management

The majority of the members of the insular Chamber also gave the green light to the new Organic Regulations of Government and Administration (ROGA) of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, which updates the norm that has been in force since December 2016 and adapts it to the changes normative and factual changes that have occurred since then, with the purpose of reinforcing the application of the good governance paradigms typical of a XNUMXst century public administration, by aligning with the principles and guidelines included in the Strategic Plan for Governance and Public Innovation of the Gran Canaria Government.

 

The new ROGA has been promoted by the Ministry of the Presidency and Sustainable Mobility, which is supervised by Teodoro Sosa, who described this internal rule as “one of the most important of the Council, along with the Plenary Regulations” and who highlighted that it is constituted as “ "the support lever for the modernization process that we want for the future of the operation of this Institution." 

 

With these purposes, the document consists of 186 articles distributed in nine titles and focuses on planning and management by objectives, as well as simplification, reduction of administrative burdens and digitalization, in order to transform the internal processes of management. It is also committed to eliminating procedures that do not add value and to ensuring that citizens do not have to hand over documents that are already in the possession of public administrations, to encourage the Corporation itself to collect them. 

 

In the same way, it seeks to eliminate all those procedural steps that do not add value, and make it easier for citizens not to have to hand over documents that are already in the possession of public administrations, and incorporates a mandate to rationalize public procurement and constitute a Contracting Central, which promotes more agile and dynamic systems, and to which municipalities with less than 20.000 inhabitants can join.

 

Another of its objectives is to design a management system for the Cabildo of Gran Canaria based on permanent adaptation, flexibility, transversality and versatility, for which it seeks to promote the incorporation of temporary organizational solutions to undertake projects, programs or missions. specific, that can be created when a cause requires it and deleted when they fulfill their purpose.

 

And, likewise, the Regulation reinforces the institutional integrity system, in line with Sustainable Development Goal number 16 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, aimed at promoting solid institutions, which is why it incorporates the latest legal requirements regarding the protection of people who report regulatory violations and the fight against corruption.