Minister of Social Policy, Families and Equality
The new head of one of the key ministries is endorsed by her previous work as a councilor and as general director of Disability
The appointment of Conchita Ruiz (Murcia, 1980) as the new Minister of Social Policy, Families and Equality was received yesterday in the crowds of the Popular Party with joy. The until now general director of People with Disabilities of the Murcian Institute of Social Action (IMAS) will take over the most relevant portfolios that Isabel Franco has held since August 2019 and will do so endorsed by her time in various management positions in policy matters social in recent years.
Ruiz, a member of the party for years, has a degree in Communication Sciences from the San Antonio de Murcia Catholic University (UCAM), and before entering politics, she practiced her profession in various media, both on radio and television. She also carried out communication work in institutions such as the Women’s Institute, as well as in the Popular Parliamentary Group in the Assembly. She was also part of the press office of the General Directorate for the Prevention of Gender Violence and Youth Reform between 2010 and 2011, and of the Popular Party in 2014.
Her first political position came from the hand of the popular former mayor José Ballesta, who appointed her as Councilor for Social Rights and Development Cooperation of the Murcia City Council in 2015. Thus, she joined the PP government that arrived to put an end to 20 years of mayoralties of Miguel Ángel Cámara in the municipality, where he appeared as one of the new faces that represented the change in various councils of the Consistory.
Her first position came in 2015 at the hands of the former mayor of Murcia José Ballesta, who appointed her mayor of Social Rights
He left the position of mayor in 2019, the year in which he was included in the lists of the Popular Party of the Region to the Congress of Deputies for the general elections, where he was number 4, but the PP obtained three seats in the Region of Murcia.
After that, she was appointed General Director of Disability, where she has carried out work that has satisfied the sector and where voices of satisfaction were heard yesterday at her promotion to the head of the Ministry.
From the municipal to the regional
Ruiz’s appointment comes to recognize his work at the head of Disability, where he has completed a little over two years of work, and his experience in the management of social policies in the municipal government of Murcia, where he had a close relationship with the collectives for equality for women and for the elderly and people with disabilities.
His passage through municipal political life has helped him to learn how many of the issues that he will now have to deal with from a general perspective work on the ground.
She is a journalist and has worked on radio, television and in various institutional and political communication positions.
President López Miras himself highlighted during the presentation of the changes in the Executive the dedication for years of the new counselor to social policy and her knowledge “of the new realities and needs of society.” Those who have worked with Ruiz highlight her performance, her involvement and her ability to work. In the party they celebrate the step forward that her incorporation can mean for the portfolios that she assumes in a Ministry that is considered key for the regional government and that in this year’s budgets has 525 million euros.
New image
His arrival is intended to give impetus and a new, friendlier image to the Ministry with an eye on the next regional elections, after a few years in which Isabel Franco has starred in various disagreements with the residential sector and the LGTBI collective, among others.
This change also supposes the replacement in one of the only three ministries that until now had not undergone modifications by the president.
Ruiz has experienced politics very closely since she was little. She is the daughter of José Pablo Ruiz Abellán, who was the Ombudsman and counselor in different popular governments under the mandate of former President Ramón Luis Valcárcel. Specifically, he was a regional deputy since 1987 and regional government advisor from 1995 to 2008. In addition, in 2008 he was appointed Ombudsman for the Region of Murcia.
Late yesterday afternoon, Ruiz was returning from a visit to the Cepaim headquarters in Beniaján, as part of her duties as CEO, while President López Miras announced her appointment to the media.
Commitments to be fulfilled at the table and peace with the residences on the horizon
The new Minister of Social Policy will have on her table as soon as she begins her work several issues pending resolution. Some of them, especially those related to the Unit, she knows better than anyone because of her work in the General Directorate.
1. Decree of minimum services. In the first place, Conchita Ruiz will have to face the elaboration of the decree of minimum services that will establish the conditions that must prevail in all the centers of the regional network and that establish the basic conditions of both quality and activity of the same, in terms of human resources and material resources. After rejecting the application of the decree approved at the national level, the Ministry must prepare its own decree whose arrival continues to be delayed in time.
2. The Covid debt. The aid promised to the residences to cover the extraordinary expenses caused by the pandemic in the second half of 2020 and throughout 2021 is still pending. The total amount of these subsidies owed amounts to 3.7 million euros, according to the information that has emerged in the last weeks. Specifically, non-profit entities should receive 1.3 million euros, while public and private companies will receive just over 2.3 million. The remaining 2.8 million euros and corresponding to the first phases of the pandemic are expected throughout this year. In addition, he will have to face the update of the price per concert venue, a commitment that Isabel Franco acquired with the sector and that Ruiz must comply with. It includes last year’s update with 5.38%, along with this year’s, 2022-2023, estimated at an additional 3.5%. This will mean an added investment of 1,751,000 euros.
3. Early Attention Law. The Ministry will have to continue guaranteeing the coverage decreed by the Early Attention Law, for which the Budgets allocate 11 million euros.
4. Improve the relationship with residences. On the other hand, Ruiz will be in charge of restoring social peace with the residential sector, with whom Isabel Franco has maintained a tense relationship that has calmed down in recent months but is still far from reaching its best moment.
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