Public transparency and social control: non-compliance with health and fire legislation

Abstract

Public transparency in Brazil seeks to guarantee society's right to exercise social control. Increased access to information has allowed citizens to monitor public issues. In this study, we demonstrate that Marília City Hall is not complying with health and fire legislation in public buildings that provide basic health care, and we propose actions to resolve this situation. In this sense, our objectives are: a) to present the legal framework for access to information and government transparency in the country; b) to demonstrate social control as an informational practice; c) to indicate, in light of the legislation, non-compliance with health and fire legislation in public buildings under local responsibility; and d) to refer the irregularities to the competent bodies for judging and punishing them, with a view to resolving them. We carried out exploratory research, with documentary analysis of federal and local legislation, as well as transdisciplinary conceptual discussion between Information Science, Public Policy and Administrative Law. The results achieved were: 1º) we presented the progress made in complying with the legislation on access to information and transparency; 2º) enabling the citizen practice of social control, aiming to; 3º) demonstrate that Marília City Hall is not complying with health and fire legislation in public buildings; aiming to 4º) solve the problem. We conclude that social control as an informational practice needs to provoke the justice system to act alongside the local government, leading it to comply with the law for the benefit of the population's safety.