One-stop-shop for Hotel Restaurant CafÃ© licences

Acronym of the case:

HoReCa1

Web address of the case:

http://www.amsterdam.nl/horeca

Country of the case:

Netherlands

Posting Date:

13 June 2007

Last Edited Date:

07 January 2010

Author:

Maurice van Erven (City of Amsterdam - Urban Program on Regulation and Enforcement)

entrepreneurs | paperwork | licences

Type of initiative

Project or service

Case Abstract

To open a bar, hotel or a restaurant in Amsterdam, an entrepreneur needs to obtain licences and dispensations from more than 18 different authorities, creating a difficult obstacle for those trying to set up a business. Through the HoReCa1 one-stop-shop, an entrepreneur can easily find out which selection of 40 governmental documents has to be obtained through answering 20 questions and filling out one single form for seven local licences of the City of Amsterdam. At the national level, the reduction possibilities are up to â‚¬ 30.2 million a year for both the administrative costs and burdens.

Description of the case

Domain

eGovernment

Topic

Inclusive eGovernment | Services for Businesses

Sector

Other

Start date - End date

January 2006 (Ongoing)

Date operational

January 2007

Target Users

Administrative | Business (SME)

Target Users Description

Starting entrepreneurs in the hotel and restaurant business, and established entrepreneurs needing to renew licences every 3 years

Scope

Local (city or municipality) | National

Status

Operation

Language(s)

Dutch | English

Policy Context and Legal Framework

Local / Policy for reduction of administrative burden and costs - nationwide implemented: simplification of (local) licenses and dispensations. In addition the city of Amsterdam emphasises the need for procedural simplification. Local government aims at improving its service provision through a multi-channel approach to citizens and businesses. Being pioneer within this field, Amsterdam is setting the example and changing contextual conditions at the national level, in cooperation with four national Ministries. The local eGovernment policy is embedded in two major programmes: 1) Service provision, and 2) Rules and Regulations. The former focuses on creating multiple channels and the latter on legal simplifications and subsequently implementing these through the channels. National / Law on co-ordinated, composite and coherent decisions on licences and procedures: local governments should streamline administrative procedures. This project contributes to the implementation of this law and provides insight to the national government by good practice. Technically the project meets all necessary standards formulated by the national agency of electronic authorities EGEM. Moreover the national ICT agency, ICTU, has been formally assigned to transfer the Amsterdam system to other local governments. Cities are the motors of Europeâ€™s economic growth, but simultaneously faced with a complexity of societal problems, including high rates of unemployment and social exclusion. By lowering the barriers and administrative burden for people to set up SMEs this project stimulates growth, the creation of jobs and increased social inclusion, aims formulated in the Lisbon Agenda and the European regional policy. Moreover, it contributes to the i2010 eGovernment Agenda and purposes stimulated through EC programmes such as CIP and eContentPlus.

Project Size and Implementation

Type of initiative

IT infrastructures and products

Overall Implementation approach

Public administration

Technology choice

Not applicable/not available

Funding source

Public funding local

Project size

Implementation: €300-499,000

Yearly cost:

€1-49,000

Implementation and Management Approach

Since the project has to deal with many administrations with different stakes, the main goal was to convince all parties involved of the added value of the project and their opportunity to greatly contribute to it. Parties were â€˜seduced' to contribute to a small part of the project; in this way everybody became partly â€œaccessoryâ€ to and owner of the final result. To achieve this, the project was organised around four main groups: - Internal end-users (permit and licence suppliers) - Reference cities (to make sure the design was not Amsterdam-specific, but generic and of use nationwide) - Technical panel (to discuss the problems of implementing and further development, also taking into account legacy-systems) - Entrepreneurs panel: to indicate what services they wished for and comment on the result on a regular basis The project is part of a citywide program for better use of rules and regulations and their processes. The program has the commitment of all 40 departments within the municipality of Amsterdam. This enables acceptance and participation, although many subdivisions still need to be persuaded.The HoReCa1 method has been adopted and spread over 4 themes (the others being events, work in public space and building permits).

Technology solution

Up until now applications were dealt within a single channel procedure on paper for each licence or dispensation, separately, with assistance of front desks in each local borough. By introducing one online form for all licences the situation will change from single to multi channel. The system will distribute the relevant data to the different authorities. These are local and national tax agencies, food and health authorities and music-licensing agencies. â€˜HoReCa1â€™ is functioning both as an online do-it-yourself tool as well as through the front office of the 14 local boroughs. At the front offices applicants will be assisted by civil servants in filling out the entire form correctly. The added value of the system is in the fact that the civil servant will be able to provide information on all 40 permits and licences, instead of only the local or regional (depending on which office the applicant addressed) legislation in the old situation. This also means a reduction of questions and handling costs and time. Next to the online and real live desks, â€˜HoReCa1â€™ is also accessible through the Customer Contact Centre â€œAntwoordâ€ (Answer) of the city of Amsterdam, by phone and again online.

Impact, innovation and results

Impact

- In Amsterdam: Integration of 18 different administrative procedures, concentration of information in one location and one clear transparent procedure will lead to more adequately and consistently informed entrepreneurs and a substantive time reduction for both applicant and local government. This will increase the quality of the applications, business plans submitted, and reduce the number of failures. - In the Netherlands: The project provides a method widely applicable in all municipalities in the Netherlands. Throughout the design process the requirements have been benchmarked with the needs of 12 different types of municipalities. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs is currently preparing implementation of this method in the 32 largest municipalities within the Netherlands. Nationwide the project could lead to a potential â‚¬ 30,2 million a year for both entrepreneurs and government. - Government: The project will lead to better informed civil servants, formalisation of implicit knowledge and increased transparency into criteria for assessment, and as such to better quality service provision to entrepreneurs and thereby changing the negative attitude towards bureaucracy. Innovation: - Size and impact: Within the Netherlands HoReCa1 is the first accurately working online coordinated governmental application procedure for all 40 possible licences and dispensations required from 18 different administrative bodies within the hotel and restaurant sector. The project is as such unique in its size and impact, by putting the client or end-user at the centre of the methodology, making the laws and regulations work for the entrepreneurs (instead of the other way around), overcoming and integrating these bureaucratic divisions and creating a one-stop-shop for the entrepreneur. This will make legal implications and their logic transparent to the applicant providing insight into the black box of the administrative procedure. - Transferability and flexibility: The method has huge potential as it can easily be applied to other administrative procedures and sectors, by any other governmental authority at all levels. At the same time the method provides flexibility to be extended with new regulations and licences at any time. - Transparency: The method has uncovered contradictions and overlaps in laws and regulations, has provided insight into the total chain of lawmaking, service provision and upholding the law, and has enabled policymakers to improve and coordinate the governmental chain within this sector. In this sense the project is unique as generally these overlap and contradictions are found out by administrations through trial and error, often frustrating entrepreneurs suffering from the consequences.

Track record of sharing

The HoReCa1-method has been approved and adapted by national ICT-implementation organisation ICTU and e-government-advisory agency EGEM. Other local governments can apply for implementation and will be supported by these organisations. The HoReCa1-methodology has set the example for several new projects. For now, the next four online application projects use the same methodology: - Events, including subsidy and safety-regulations - Working in the public space (eg. closing down a street) - Building permits (together with the ministry of planning, housing and environment) - Expats (registration, taxes, personal and family-requirements arranged in advance) Exchange mechanism: Amsterdam has created a toolkit with all blueprints, functional design and businessrules combined with an implementation guide. This toolkit, as an open standard, is available to all local authorities. An extranet is available for more detailed information. The method is ready for implementation in any European city regardless of legal differences and contexts

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - One step at a time: Make your design in steps and limit the scope of your project. It is important to work towards a concrete example at an early stage of the project and continue from there through an iterative process. With a first mock up it will be easier to create support among those who will have to work with it and implement it.

Lesson 2 - 80% of all knowledge of civil servants has NOT been formalised. There is a large grey area between laws and regulations and the actual service provision based on them. Digital service provision makes this grey area explicit and visible. It therefore forces the governmental organisation to address contradictions and overlaps within this grey area which contributes to better governance by making decision making and assessment criteria transparent and the information equally accessible for all.

Lesson 3 - Invest in the organisation and people that will have to work with the system. It is important to actively engage them in the project at an early stage and to spend a considerable amount of time in knowledge transfer, training and explaining. Make your project their project!

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