Czech case study on co-production in
the delivery of public good services
* Magdalena Huncova
Spolupráce veřejného a soukromého sektoru
při řešení mimořádných událostí
Konference s mezinárodní účastí, ESF MU Brno,
11. 6. ­ 12. 6. 2008
Co-production
and co-management
in the public good services delivery
Security of person and property - fire safety
* Co-production is manifested by co-management as a
type of cooperation in which the third sector has a
direct influence on the nature of public services
delivery (its planning, providing, producing,
delivering, and financing).
* The Voluntary fire-fighting crews would represent
bodies of the third sector in the Czech Republic
which produces common good services at local
level in cooperation with the state administration
historically and nowadays .
* An involvement of citizens creates the service
delivery practices as well as the citizens and their
social capital is themselves created by the service
delivery.
Theses:
Some questions:
* (1) Are fire-safety and fire-effects
maintenance activities recognizable
as a public service?
* (2) What are the specific
characteristics of fire-safety service?
* (3) What is the history and present of
this service delivery?
* (4) Which actors play their role here
and in which manners?
* (5) What is the conclusion?
Fire-safety and fire-effects
maintenance activities are
services as a common good
* Fair-fighting and fire-effects
overcoming and maintenance postulate
demand of some solidarity
mechanisms because it is not easy to
bear that costs by individuals. The
market don't operate it.
* Fire prevention stays traditionally to
be municipal and state interest.
Specific characteristics
of fire-safety service
That service is being usually and
traditionally delivered within close
cooperation
­ of (associated) citizens with their
municipality,
­ of voluntary semi-professionals with
salaried professionals,
­ of the municipality with the state,
­ and of various bodies across economical
sectors together.
That service is delivered systematically.
Nowadays some data about
the Czech Republic (1.1.2007)
* About 87 000 fire-fighter serve there
­ including about 9 000 professionals (within the
state Fire-fighting and rescue crew)
­ and about 78 000 voluntaries (within about 370
voluntary crews in villages and small cities).
* Czech Republic area covers 78 864 square
kilometres where about 10,2 million citizens
live
­ included about 5 million men and 5,2 million
women)
­ which settled in about 6 250 domicile-
municipalities
History of the service
* Some voluntary fire-fighting crew in Líšťany
village was founded in 1871, another one in
Velký Šenov city in 1879, for example.
* "Central fire-fighting union" of the Czech
kingdom country was associated in 1879 and
"Fire-fighter's mutual insurance company" in
1900.
* "Confederation of Czechoslovak voluntary
firemen" was associated 1919.
The fire-safety of city or village was organized
by mayor, but the responsibility of firefighting
were held by voluntary crews
(machine-man and commander served as a
salaried public person sometimes). In some
bigger cities, there public fire-fighting crews
were served by professional salaried men.
125 years anniversary in the village
The service nowadays
* 1942 there state Regiment of fire-fighting policy was
settled being administrated by German Gendarmerie.
* After the War that system was covered by the
Czechoslovak Ministry of Interior and operated via
National boards per both voluntary and professional
fire-fighting bodies. Firemen were given by magistracy
status.
* In 1958 state responsibility of fire-fighting was
decentralized down to voluntary "Czechoslovak firefighting
alliance". Schools for fire-fighters were
founded.
* In 1985 new the Fire-fighting Code was issued.
* After 1995 the state professional "Fire-fighting and
rescue crew" was newly established and headed by
the Czech Ministry of Interior.
* New system of Crises Management, Emergency
solution and citizen's security Planning, and Integral
System of Rescue were created
* New collection of relevant Codes came in 2000.
Integral System of Rescue
ISR is aimed to provide fire-saving citizen's life, health and
property (via fire-prevention and fire-fighting) and to
provide effective helping in occasion of any extraordinary
accidents (natural disaster, traffic accident and other). Comanagement
is deep and multilateral here.
* The professional Fire-fighting and rescue crew of the
Czech Republic is a pillar as well as the Voluntary firefighting
crews are the main actors of the IRS system.
* They co-operate together with the Policy and Army being
a partner of state, regional and municipalities. Another
partners of ISR cooperate "in call or task" agreement
regime (namely Mountain rescue services, Mine rescue
service, Cave rescue service, Health rescue service, and
others, which are some voluntary and some professional
bodies).
* Person and firms co-laborate when necessary.
All the system is operated within the public Crises
Management.
Structure of Czech fire-fighting system,
its actors and network, co-management
- FRC
The Fire-fighter and rescue crew of the CR (FRC)
­ is authorised by Law to provide: state's supervision on firesecurity
provision; strategic fire-fight and rescue planning
in coordination it with partners; activity co-operation and
co-ordination with partners; publicity and enlightenment;
education and training both professional firemen and
voluntary firemen (their machine-men and commander
especially); financial support to voluntary fire-fighters
crew's technique-equipment; other assignments.
­ co-organizes fighting-power co-ordination exercises and
fire-fighter's sport performance with volunteers together.
­ provides central emergency call both by national No. 150
and European No. 112 (systematically from 2003).
FRC includes 14 regional crew-branches subsided to
regional authority.
Structure of Czech fire-fighting
system, its actors and network, comanagement
- VFC
* Voluntary fire-fighters crews (VFC) associate citizens
to provide honored common good services on
voluntary base. VFC represents citizen's mutual
solidary initiative which is semi-professional.
* Any crew is relatively autonomous under patronage
of related municipality.
* VFC involve young people into fire-fighting activities
and play serious role in local culture and sport.
* Voluntary fire-fighters crews' activity and equipment
are financed mainly by public finance support and cofinanced
by member's fee, by philanthropy, by they
own activities at the open market and by nondistributed
profit of themselves controlled non-forprofit
enterprises. They use also voluntary work and
mutual self-help.
* Members of voluntary fire-fighting crews are
associated into three Associations.
Voluntary fire-fighting sector network
* Fire-fighter educational institutions;
* Granting founds (the Found for fire-fighting movement
supporting; the Firemen and policemen found supporting
children surviving the fire-fighter which perish
be on service);
* Fire-fighters trade unions,
* Professional chamber of Fire-fighters (It is voluntary
association of fire-fighter technique-equipment providers
which are profit and non-for-profit bodies);
* Association of fire-fighter officers (It is voluntary
association ­ a member of European Federation of Firefighter
Officers Association);
* Fire-fighter's Mutual Insurance, Co. (It is non-for-profit
body which is founded and controlled by Association of
Voluntary Fire-fighter crews. Its profit is non-distributed
but proposed for fire-fighting technique improvement of
Voluntary fire-fighting crews).
* Others.
Conclusion
* Case study shows providers, procedures, activities
and actions which are co-managed by both public
authorities and private bodies jointly and
systematically.
* Fire-fighting was any time common good service
which effective providing needs existence of large
coordination and cooperation anybody concerned.
* Furnished by power, public authorities
functionally collaborate and coordinate strategic
and operational appropriate activities with each
other and with their partners to catch the common
purpose and benefits.
* Furnished by creative enthusiasm, citizen's
volunteers not only provides common good
service but also make their community more
strength.
Thank you for your attention
Příspěvek navazuje na téma přednesené na
mezinárodní konferenci EGPA v Madridu
2007 (co-management ­ social services)
 Magdalena Hunčová
University J.E.Purkyně
in Ústí nad Labem
mhuncova@hotmail.com
2008