Local Government in Malta – Fact sheet
STATISTICS:
Last Local Elections held: May 2019, turnout: 62.7%
Next local elections to be held in May 2024
No. of Local
Councils: 68
No. of Local
Councillors in Malta and Gozo: 464
No. of Women
Councillors: 58 (26.5%)
WOMEN MAYORS: 11 (16%)
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT IN MALTA
Malta is a unicameral parliamentary republic with two
tiers of government: national and local, including five regional councils
(to increase to 6 Regional Councils in November 2021). Local Government is enshrined
in Malta’s Constitution
and is governed by the Local Government Act (Chapter 363, Laws of Malta). Legal
responsibility for local government rests with the Minister responsible for
local government.
The
Local Government Division, within the Ministry for National Heritage, the Arts
and Local Government, is responsible for the control, co-ordination,
supervision and monitoring of the functions of Local Government, including
financial and procurement compliance by local and regional councils, as well as
to assist the Ministry in the formulation of strategies, policies and
legislation as may be required from time to time.
LEGAL
BASIS FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Constitutional provisions
Local government is enshrined in Malta’s constitution. Article 115A of the Constitution states that
‘The State shall adopt a system of local government whereby the territory of
Malta shall be divided into such number of localities as may by law be from
time to time determined, each local authority to be administered by a local
council elected by the residents of the locality and established and operating
in terms of such laws as may from time to time be in force.’
The functions, operations and legal powers of local
government emanate from the Local Government Act (Chapter 363, Laws of Malta).
This legislation may be accessed from: https://legislation.mt/Legislation
.
Main legislative texts
The Local Government Act is the main legislative text, together with its subsidiary
legislation that include: Human
Resources Regulations, Financial Regulations, Procurement Regulations, Audit
Regulations.
STRUCTURE OF LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
Malta’s system of local government
in its present state was set up
in 1993. Malta ratified the European Charter of Local self-Government of
the Council of Europe in the same
year. Malta also ratified
the Additional Protocol to the European Charter of Local self-Government in
January 2018. The Local Government Act gives the minister
responsible for local government the power to devolve functions to local
authorities, and the last two decades have seen a gradual decentralisation of
powers and services.
Regional structures were introduced in the local
government set up in 2009. In 2019,
these Regional Councils’ powers and
responsibilities were considerably increased.
Ministerial
oversight
Following the adoption of the 2003 amendment to the
Local Councils Act, the Department for Local Government (DLG) (Monitoring and
Support) (formerly the Department for Local Government) within the Ministry responsible
for Local Government has the responsibility for monitoring all local
authorities (regional and local councils.) to ensure that they operate
within the law. It is also tasked with supporting them to function more
effectively, and spearheading devolution and decentralisation. The department
administers statutory funding to local councils. In 2020, these responsibilities
have been assigned to the Director General within the Local Government
Division.
The Minister can devolve further powers to local
authorities by means of an order in the Government Gazette and can request
information on any local authority’s financial administration. In serious cases
of a council breaching its financial responsibilities, the President, acting on
the advice of the Prime Minister, has the power to intervene and dissolve a
council. In June 2009, a ‘Code of Good Practice for Local Government’ was
issued and distributed to all members of local authorities. This
code has now been incorporated as a Schedule to the Local Government Act.
The Monitoring Unit of the Department for Local
Government (Monitoring and Support) monitors the administrative
funcitons of local
and regional councils
with a view to ensure compliance. A newly set up directorate responsible for
Finance and Procurement compliance carries out monitoring and investigations
into alleged finance and procurement irregularities.
ELECTIONS
All elections are overseen by Electoral
Commission of Malta.
Voting
system
.
Elec
ted representatives
In
the latest local elections, citizens over the age of sixteen could stand for election. The number of councillors in each council
depends on its population: five councillors for up to 4,999 inhabitants: seven
for 5,000–9,999, nine for 10,000–14,999, 11 for 15,000–19,999 and 13 for
populations of 20,000 and over.
The Minister can intervene and declare a council seat
vacant if a Councillor does not attend for six consecutive meetings or is
absent for more than one-third of meetings within a six-month period. The Minister
exercises this power after the council has resolved that a Councillor has
failed to attend for such a period without the
council approving that such absence was justifiable.
SYSTEMS
FOR COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Legal
requirements
The Local Government Act makes provision for all council
meetings to be open to the public and facilitates the engagement of the media
to report the proceedings. In addition, all council meetings are streamed
online live. The Act also states that a council must hold a public consultation
if either the council deems it appropriate, or a petition is submitted signed
by one-fifth of the electorate of a council area of more than 3,000 registered
voters (or one-quarter of the electorate in the case of a council area with
less than 3,000 registered voters). In addition, each year every local council
is legally bound to hold a locality meeting to discuss the financial estimates
and a five-year Work Plan for the
locality.
ICT use in citizen engagement
A local government e-government strategy is currently
being rolled out in line with national policies. This includes the introduction
of a mobile app that facilitates interaction between local citizens and their
local authority. It also includes a uniform e-platform that would incorporate a central customer care
system which allows for queries/complaints to be channelled to the relevant
source and a reply given to the individual within a reasonable time. Measures
are underway to implement the concerns raised in a National Audit Report regarding ICT
within Local Government in Malta.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATIONS
There are two associations of local government in Malta
(described below), one representing the elected local representatives and the
other the local authorities’ executive secretaries. Both receive funding from
national government.
The Local Councils Association
The Local Councils Association (LCA) was set up under
the Local Government Act
by means of subsidiary legislation to promote the common interests of local councils and
represent them on international bodies concerned with local government. The
association is recognised in law and membership is voluntary.
ANSEK
The
National Association of Local Councils’ Executive Secretaries (ANSEK) was set
up in November 1994 as the association for local council executive secretaries.
Its aim is to promote their interests and provide training and support for its
members. Membership of ANSEK is also voluntary.