Court of Auditors: findings put brakes on first MiC executive appointments

On the morning of 8 July, the Court of Auditors delivered its findings to the Head of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Culture, which is coordinating the process of the call for 175 second-rank managers.

The constitutional body objected that in the first decree appointing 10 executives, precedence was given to the figures provided for in Article 19(5bis) and (6) of Legislative Decree No. 165 of 30 March 2001 (Consolidated Public Employment Act), i.e. to executives of other public administrations (the majority of the 10), instead of the MiC's tenured executives. Therefore, the process should be repeated by including and giving priority to tenured managers.

Let's take a step back and reconstruct the affair, which Arteconomy has already covered in the past, anticipating possible delays and bureaucratic snags. Let us look at the problems encountered. At the end of May, the MiC's Directorate General for Human Resources and Organisation published the selection procedure for the conferral of 175 second-tier management positions for the ministry's central and peripheral administration. The posts available are many and concern important central offices with financial and management functions and peripheral offices such as superintendencies, museums and cultural institutes throughout Italy. The objective of the call for applications was to select candidates on the basis of the nature and characteristics of the objectives set, the complexity of the structure involved, as well as taking into account professional aptitudes and skills, the results already achieved in the administration to which they belonged and the relevant evaluations, specific organisational skills possessed and, where present, previous experience in management roles. The procedure was aimed at managers belonging to the role of the Ministry of Culture, as well as managers of other public administrations. The window to participate was short, from 26 May until 5 June. The MiC's intention was to conclude the process with all appointments by 30 June. As things stand, the intended goal can be said not to have been achieved.

Complesso monumentale della Pilotta

What are the effects of the findings of the Court of Auditors? On the one hand it could block the first appointments, on the other hand it could speed up the filling of all positions. The Chief of the Cabinet is now preparing a second allocation decree with a majority of internal staff and a minority of external staff, 50 in total, so that the Court of Auditors cannot object to the priority given to external figures. The rest of the other appointments, 125, are expected to take place in the coming weeks, and thus more quickly than in August as subsequently planned by the MiC.

According to the trade unions Cisl Fp and Flp in the assignment decrees, it is essential to contractualise the 14 resources that have passed the Competition Course for Technical Managers, as well as to allocate assignments to the figures that are completing the training course of the Sna. On this issue, the Cabinet is in danger of getting a stop from the Court of Auditors and the Council of State, to which the internal resources will certainly appeal, should they be ousted. The list of 175 positions had been known for some time, so it is at the very least incomprehensible that a single appointment decree was not made. The stakes, therefore, are high, since, in addition to numerous important offices, 23 second-tier museums, some of which are highly visited, such as the Pantheon and Castel Sant'Angelo, the Archaeological Park of Herculaneum, the Royal Palace of Naples, the Historical Museum and Park of the Castle of Miramare, the Monumental Complex of the Pilotta, Villa Adriana and Villa D'Este, are also uncovered. Also awaiting a director are all the Superintendencies and the Central Institute for the Digitisation of Cultural Heritage, Digital Library, whose command post has been vacant and ad interim for more than two years. The Cabinet's next moves are awaited, and here a quote from a Massimo Troisi film 'Sorry for the delay' comes to mind.