Vila Real de Santo António City Hall guaranteed this Tuesday that it has already regularized all situations identified by the Court of Auditors related to the appointment of directors on a replacement basis.
The Algarve municipality was one of 16 municipalities on the continent covered by an audit by the Court of Auditors (TdC), which highlighted non-compliance with standards relating to procedures and deadlines for appointing intermediate managers.
According to the municipality, all the situations highlighted have since been resolved and, currently, there is no intermediate management position held illegally in the municipality.
In a note released last week, the Court of Auditors said that non-compliance with the Statute of Management Personnel of Central, Regional and Local Administration and the Statute of Management Personnel of Municipal Chambers were at stake.
Audit analyzed 16 municipalities in the country
The audit focused on 571 management positions in the period between 2018 and 2025 in a sample of 16 municipalities: Albufeira, Almada, Condeixa-a-Nova, Espinho, Miranda do Douro, Monção, Oeiras, Ourique, Peniche, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Seixal, Sines, Sobral de Monte Agraço, Vila Nova de Cerveira, Vila Real de Santo António and Viseu.
The municipalities audited did not respect both statutes, because they “appointed directors on a replacement basis after the 90th day after the position became vacant” or “allowed them to remain in office after this period had passed, without the corresponding competitive procedures being in progress”, according to the TdC.
In a response sent to Lusa, it clarified that all situations identified by the Court of Auditors are “fully regularized, with the respective competitive procedures for filling intermediate management positions having been opened, within the legally established deadlines, under the terms of the EPD”.
The city hall acknowledged that the “processing of the competitions took longer than usual”, but justified that it was “exclusively” due to the composition of the juries with “members external to the city hall” and the need to “make agendas compatible” to guarantee the “carrying out of the various procedural phases in accordance with the law”.
Municipality guarantees no irregular situations
All requested information and documentation was sent by the Vila Real de Santo António Chamber to the TdC, “demonstrating the regularization of the situations analyzed”, highlighted the Algarve municipality, stressing that, “to date, there is no intermediate management position held in an irregular situation in the municipality”.
“A single competitive procedure is currently being processed regarding the filling of a 3rd grade intermediate management position”, he noted, reaffirming his “commitment” to “legality, administrative transparency and good public management” in recruitment processes.
Court of Auditors pointed out irregularities in several municipalities
The audit report revealed that 12 municipalities did not publish orders appointing replacement managers in the Official Gazette of the Union, or did so incompletely.
According to the audit, after analyzing the allegations submitted in a contradictory manner, it was found that 11 of the municipalities audited had already remedied the alleged irregularities, meaning that no financial responsibilities were determined by the TdC.
However, five held management positions that were being held “in an apparently illegal manner by directors appointed on a replacement basis” without bidding procedures being underway to regularize the illegalities detected.
In the report, the TdC recommended that Vila Real de Santo António, Almada e Espinho open competitive procedures to regularize the situation of directors under a replacement regime, sending supporting documentation to the TdC within 90 days.
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