During this meeting, González Gago said that the Presidency of the Republic will continue to collaborate with the Regional Council of El Bierzo through the different positions intended to cover the current expenses of the institution, to finance investments in public services and to provide assistance to the 38 municipalities and 375 towns that make up this administrative region, the only one recognized as such in Castile and León.
This particularity is what allows the Regional Council of El Bierzo to benefit from a line of regional subsidies different from those from which the rest of the local entities of Castilla y León can benefit. Under the collaboration agreement between the Community of Castilla y León and the Regional Council, this institution will receive, in 2024, 2,356,000 euros from the Authority to cover current expenses, as reflected in the decree that the councilor of the Presidency approved in March. This amount reflects an increase of 4.2% compared to what was allocated in 2023 to this concept.
González Gago expressed to Olegario Ramón his commitment to continue the execution of this line of aid in the coming years, for which the collaboration instrument will have to be updated, given that the agreement ends in October 2024 after four years of validity.
“The Regional Council will always find in the Junta de Castilla y León a desire for dialogue and collaboration. We understand the geographical, social and economic particularities of this Region, which require specific involvement from the Regional Government, and this is how we have been acting in recent years,” explained the advisor.
On the other hand, in 2024, this Leonese administration will receive more than 116,000 euros from this Department in terms of general investments, to continue to finance the improvement of the public services it provides in the various municipalities.
In addition, González Gago highlighted the significant increase of more than 34% in 2023 in the annual financial assistance from the Ministry of Municipal Assistance Service provided by the Bercian institution. The 270,000 euros that the Regional Council received in 2023 will be consolidated in 2024 and will be used so that this entity can continue to carry out legal, economic, IT and training assistance work in all the Town Halls in its area of competence. .
The head of the Presidency stressed that “the increase in the economic effort of the Government of Castilla y León in this service must be homogeneous for all the Municipal Assistance Services of the Foral Deputations and the Regional Deputation of El Bierzo, and must be accompanied by a commitment, on the part of local entities, to manage these funds effectively. In this sense, he informed the president of the Regional Council of the desire of the Ministry and its Directorate of Local Administration to work together with the institution with the aim of making the most of all allocated resources.
Finally, the advisor reiterated his commitment to collaborating with the Regional Council in the event that the establishment decides to move its headquarters, as provided for in the aforementioned Collaboration Agreement.
After the necessary transfer by the Town Hall of Ponferrada of the land on which this potential new headquarters is to be built, the Junta de Castilla y León offers to participate in the technical study of the dimensioning of the new property, as well as in the preparation of the project corresponding work.
Over the coming months, work will be carried out on assessing compliance with the objectives of the current agreement, which will be analyzed by each of the respective relevant ministries. This will be a preliminary step before starting to negotiate the content of the next four-year agreement, which will govern relations between the Junta de Castilla y León and the Regional Council of El Bierzo.