Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki: Local government and government are two lungs of the same public authority
04.03.2023
Saturday's Programme Congress of the OdNowa Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej Association was dedicated to self- governance, security, the economy and the young generation. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki took part in a discussion entitled "Roundtable for self-governance". It was an opportunity to review the activities that support local governments across Poland. Thanks to government programmes, funds are flowing to all municipalities, cities and smaller towns. Government funding is used, among other things, for the construction and modernisation of kindergartens, schools, nurseries or road, water and sewage infrastructure.
We support local governments across the country
Immediately after fixing the public finance system, we started to implement major infrastructure programmes. We are committed to sustainable development, so additional funds are flowing to all local government units. The Strategic Investment Programme, a grant from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, the COVID-19 Response Fund or the Government Fund for Local Investments are just some of the programmes that support local governments across the country.
As part of the Government Fund for Local Investments, funding goes to investments close to the people. These include the reconstruction of nearby roads, equipping hospitals, the construction of nurseries or the renovation of libraries. PLN 13.2 billion has already been allocated for this purpose. There have also been five editions of the Government Strategic Investment Programme to date. A total of PLN 63.4 billion has been allocated for non-refundable investment co-financing. Government funds are used, among others, for the construction and modernisation of kindergartens, schools and water supply or sewage infrastructure. Additional funds are also received by large cities such as Warsaw, Gdańsk or Kraków.
“All the heads of local governments are asking for a continuation of the programmes that have been implemented so far. They say that this a far cry from what was done before,” said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
We listen to the voices of all citizens
The government listens to local government officials, who communicate needs directly from citizens. Additional government funding and the modernisation of small homelands reduces the migration of residents to big cities. This also benefits local companies, which hire new employees. Thanks to such solutions, we are contributing to a fall in unemployment across Poland, which according to Eurostat was 2.8% in January 2023 and 6.7% in the euro area. Only the Czech Republic has a lower unemployment rate at 2.5%.
“Administration is supposed to serve citizens, so the information we collect from citizens through local government officials reaches us at the government level. We try to process it and implement it for the benefit of local communities. If at a lower level some task can be completed or some goal can be achieved more efficiently, better than at a higher level - it is better to leave this task to authorities at a lower level, i.e. the local government level instead of the government,” stressed the head of the Polish government.
