Following the directive given by the Chairman of the United Russia Party, public reception offices have been set up in all constituent entities of the Russian Federation, with the central public reception office located in Moscow.
Regional public reception offices are headed by members of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, members of regional legislatures and mayors of administrative centres. They are staffed by Federal Assembly members' aides on an ongoing basis.
Members of the United Russia party in the State Duma are available to see applicants three days a week in person at the Central Public Reception Office, with members of regional and municipal legislatures seeing applicants in the regions. Federal Assembly members receive applicants on so-called regional weeks.
An electronic database and processing system have been developed and put into operation in order to electronically archive applications, background material and business correspondence relating to the application, as well as to carry out specific statistical analysis, draft reports, track the history of an issue online, and monitor the entire process, ensuring that applications are considered on schedule, and that officials are carrying out their duties professionally.
Between August 2008 and August 2009 almost 209,000 people applied to public reception offices, of whom over 60,000 submitted applications in writing and some 149,000 visited public reception offices.
Statistics show that the majority of applications relate to housing and utility issues, which account for 34.5% of all applications, with 17.4% relating to social services and welfare concerns.
Within the first year, solutions were found to 22.5% of applications, with about half of applications currently being coordinated with federal and municipal bodies.
A quarter of applications such as those regarding court verdicts and the unscheduled improvement of housing conditions could not be settled, but applicants are being consulted about these issues and legal assistance is being provided.
A selection of all the applications submitted to the central and regional public reception offices are detailed in a monthly report to United Russia's leadership. To qualify for selection, an application must meet certain criteria, which include the following:
- demonstrable social, political or economic significance of an issue for a wide range of people;
- where the solution requires amendments and addendums to be made to the legislation of the Russian Federation, or where it requires regulatory acts to be adopted by federal and regional executive bodies of the Russian Federation;
- where the problem requires urgent measures to protect people's lives and health and to ensure their security.
Individual issues are reported to the party chairman so that directives can be prepared.
Frequently asked questions are regularly analysed and systematised before being submitted to the relevant ministries and State Duma committees.
The economic recession resulted in an increased number of applications pertaining to labour and wage issues (such as coerced resignations, personnel cuts, the termination of operations, closures, adopting a shorter working week, planned bankruptcy and wage arrears), loan re-payments by people who have been made redundant, banks' unilaterally overhauling interest rates on loans (including on mortgage loans), banks' refusing to lend to small and medium-sized businesses as well as growing cost of utilities.
In relation to this, research is being carried out on a monthly basis in the regions on measures to counter the recession, and the information people have shared regarding cases of dismissals and redundancies, the closure of facilities and mass protests is being thoroughly analyzed. Decisions are taken on the basis of this research on how best to respond to problems promptly and in cooperation with heads of the regions, organisations and companies.
The Commission of the Presidium of the United Russia General Council on processing applications to the party chairman, vested as it is with both analysis and monitoring powers, is charged with coordinating the performance of the public reception office network.