A Study on the Appropriate Size of Policy Support Personnel for Strengthening the Function of Local Councils

The purpose of the study is to calculate an appropriate size of support personnel that can strengthen the function of the council in order for local councils to be more active. The local council's policies are supported by the local council's secretariat (national office), expert committee office, and policy support office, which analyzes policy support officers and expert committee members. The first problem for expert members is a lack of expertise. One expert member is assigned per standing committee. The number of real offices under the jurisdiction of each standing committee is one∽16, and there are no specialized professionals for each real office. Second, the functions are overlapping with the policy support officer. A number of functions performed by expert members are overlapping with the functions of the policy support officer. Third, the workload of expert members is excessive. The current Local Autonomy Act stipulated that one policy support officer assists two lawmakers. Therefore, it is difficult for one person to handle tasks such as supporting individual legislative activities of lawmakers in addition to supporting the core policies (legislation, budget, administrative audit) of two lawmakers. In order to secure an appropriate size of local councilor support personnel, first, it is necessary to secure independent standard labor costs and quotas, and to establish an independent personnel system. Second, it is necessary to clearly divide the roles of expert members and policy support personnel for function-oriented and job-oriented manpower management. Third, it would be desirable to integrate the professional committee system and the policy support control system centered on the standing committee.