Circular No. 06/2023/TT-BTC amends and supplements certain Articles of Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC dated March 30, 2018, issued by the Minister of Finance, guiding the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of training and capacity building funds for civil servants and public officials.

CIRCULAR

AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO CERTAIN ARTICLES OF CIRCULAR NO. 36/2018/TT-BTC GUIDING THE PREPARATION OF ESTIMATES, MANAGEMENT, USE, AND SETTLEMENT OF FUNDS FOR TRAINING AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT OF OFFICIALS, CIVIL SERVANTS, AND STATE EMPLOYEES ISSUED ON MARCH 30, 2018 BY THE MINISTER OF FINANCE

Pursuant to the State Budget Law dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army dated December 21, 1999; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army dated June 3, 2008 and the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army dated November 27, 2014;

Pursuant to the Law on Military Service dated June 19, 2015, the Law on Professional Military Personnel, Civil Servants, and State Employees in Defense dated November 26, 2015, and the Law on the People's Police dated November 20, 2018;

Pursuant to Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 87/2017/NĐ-CP dated July 26, 2017, issued by the Government, stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decree No. 101/2017/NĐ-CP dated September 1, 2017 of the Government on cadre, civil servant, and public official training;

Pursuant to Decree No. 89/2021/NĐ-CP dated October 18, 2021 of the Government amending and supplementing certain provisions of Decree No. 101/2017/NĐ-CP dated September 1, 2017 of the Government on training and skill development of officials, civil servants, and state employees;

Pursuant to Decree No. 92/2009/NĐ-CP dated October 22, 2009 of the Government on positions, number, and some policies for officials and civil servants at commune, ward, town level and those working non-professionally at commune level, village, and residential quarter; and Decree No. 34/2019/NĐ-CP dated April 24, 2019 of the Government amending and supplementing some provisions on officials and civil servants at commune level and those working non-professionally at commune level, village, and residential quarter;

At the proposal of the Director of the Administrative and Public Service Financial Department;

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC dated March 30, 2018 of the Minister of Finance guiding the preparation of estimates, management, use, and settlement of funds for training and skill development of officials, civil servants, and state employees.

Article 1. Amendments and supplements to certain articles of Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC dated March 30, 2018 of the Minister of Finance guiding the preparation of estimates, management, use, and settlement of funds for training and skill development of officials, civil servants, and state employees (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC).

1. Amend the name of Clause 2 and Point b of Clause 2 of Article 1 as follows:

“2. This Circular applies to the subjects eligible for training and skill development including:

b) Civil servants in the agencies of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the State, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, political and social organizations at central, provincial, district levels, and civil servants at commune, ward, town level (hereinafter referred to as commune level)”.

3. Add

"Article 2. Training and skill development funds

1. Funds for training and skill development of officials and civil servants are guaranteed from the state budget according to the current budget decentralization; funds of the agency managing and using officials and civil servants; contributions of officials and civil servants; and financial support from domestic and foreign organizations and individuals in accordance with the law.

2. The funding for training and refresher courses for public officials shall be sourced from contributions by public officials, financial resources of public service establishments, and other sources as provided by law.

a) For public service units funded by the state budget for regular expenses, the funds are allocated from the annual state budget estimate, revenue from service activities, and other sources (if any) in accordance with the financial autonomy mechanism of public service units;

b) For public service units partially self-funding regular expenses, the funds are allocated from the annual state budget estimate, revenue from service activities, and other sources (if any), and the Development Fund for Service Activities of the unit in accordance with the financial autonomy mechanism of public service units;

c) For public service units fully self-funding regular expenses and investment costs, the funds are provided from various financial sources of the unit, the Development Fund for Service Activities, and other sources (if any) in accordance with the law and the financial autonomy mechanism of public service units.

3. In cases where the funds for training and skill development of state employees are implemented according to approved Programs and Projects, the funding sources will be in accordance with these Programs and Projects.

4. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, central-level political and social organizations, and provincial People's Committees shall proactively allocate funds from regular expenses and other sources to support female officials, civil servants, and state employees from ethnic minorities who are selected for training and skill development in accordance with the law on gender equality and ethnic affairs.

5. Funds for training and skill development for other subjects covered by this Circular shall be guaranteed by individuals, activity funds of agencies and units, and other lawful sources in accordance with the law".

3. Amend Clause 1 and add Clauses 4 and 5 of Article 3 as follows:

a) Amend Clause 1 of Article 3 as follows:

"1. Funds for training and skill development of officials and civil servants shall be used to implement annual regular training and skill development tasks for officials and civil servants under the management of agencies and units in accordance with the approved training and skill development plan (including direct training and skill development at the base and sending to other training institutions) covering the following contents: Political theory; national defense and security knowledge; administrative management knowledge and skills; knowledge and skills required for job positions";

b) Add Clause 4 and Clause 5 of Article 3 as follows:

"4. Based on the classification of public service units according to the financial autonomy scheme approved by the competent authority, based on actual needs, market prices, and financial capacity, training and skill development institutions may decide on certain expenditure amounts and contents within their authority as stipulated in Decree No. 60/2021/NĐ-CP dated June 21, 2021 of the Government on the financial autonomy mechanism of public service units.

5. In cases where agencies and units conduct bidding or ordering of training and skill development services for officials, civil servants, and state employees using state budget funds, they shall follow the Government's regulations on bidding and ordering of products and services provided using state budget funds from regular expense funds".

4. Add the last bullet point under Point a of Clause 3 of Article 4 as follows:

"- Costs arising from remote online training and skill development

+ Expenditure on purchasing, leasing equipment, software, and other application items for information technology directly serving online training and development through remote means (training and development software; lecture materials, simulation software, equipment for remote online teaching; internet connection costs and other information technology costs);

+ Expenditure on digitizing documents and other costs directly serving online training and development through remote means;

5. Amend Point b Clause 3 Article 4 as follows:

“b) In cases where agencies and units are allocated funds for training and developing civil servants and officials but do not have training and development facilities, or do not have the conditions to organize classes themselves, they must send civil servants and officials to train and develop at other training and development facilities. The agency or unit shall settle the accounts with these training and development facilities based on the contracts signed between both parties in accordance with the laws on bidding, ordering, and assigning tasks to provide public services using state budget funds from the regular expenditure budget. In cases where the conditions are not met or no service provider can be selected, the agency or unit shall decide to directly support civil servants and officials sent for training with tuition fees, textbook purchase costs, compulsory learning material costs, and other mandatory costs payable to the training and development facilities based on notifications, invoices, and receipts from the training and development facilities.”

6. Add to Point i Clause 2 Article 5 as follows:

“- Expenditure on establishing or leasing information technology application systems for remote online training and development

Agencies and units assigned the task of developing civil servants may, based on necessity, decide on the procurement, leasing of equipment, software, and other application items for information technology according to the management hierarchy; strictly comply with all regulations on procurement, bidding, vouchers, invoices, and regulations on information technology applications;

- Expenditure on digitizing documents directly serving remote online training and development: Implemented in accordance with Decree No. 73/2019/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2019, of the Government on managing investment in the application of information technology using state budget funds and relevant laws; economic and technical norms in the field of information and communication;

- Expenditure on purchasing consumables and raw materials for practical classes where such classes require practical consumables and raw materials.”

7. Amend Points e, l, and m Clause 2 Article 5 as follows:

“e) Expenditure on setting examination questions, invigilation, and marking:

Based on the expenditure levels for setting examination questions, invigilation, and marking stipulated in Circular No. 69/2021/TT-BTC dated August 11, 2021, of the Minister of Finance guiding the management of examination preparation, organization, and participation budgets applicable to general education; the head of the agency or unit organizing the development of civil servants shall determine specific levels and must be specified in the internal financial regulations of the unit;

For professional lecturers responsible for teaching in training and development institutions, implement the conversion of time to standard hours as prescribed in Circular No. 01/2018/TT-BNV dated January 8, 2018, of the Minister of Home Affairs guiding certain provisions of Decree No. 101/2017/NĐ-CP dated September 1, 2017, of the Government on training and developing civil servants, officials, and employees, and any supplementary or amended documents (if any), and related specialized guidance documents;

l) Expenditure on compiling new training programs and materials; expenditure on revising, supplementing, and updating training programs and materials:

Based on the provisions in Circular No. 76/2018/TT-BTC dated August 17, 2018, of the Minister of Finance guiding the content and expenditure levels for building training programs and compiling textbooks for higher education and vocational education; the agencies and units primarily responsible for compiling programs and textbooks shall determine appropriate expenditure levels for each training program and development program;

m) Expenditure on direct management activities of civil servant development classes organized by training and development institutions or agencies and units assigned the task of opening training and development classes:

Training and development institutions or agencies organizing civil servant training and development classes are permitted to deduct up to a maximum of 10% of the total budget for each class and this amount is included within the scope of the training and development budget allocated for direct management activities of civil servant development classes as stipulated in Item 14 of Point a Clause 3 Article 4 of this Circular.

If the budget for managing the class is not fully utilized, the training and development institution or agency organizing the civil servant development class may proactively use it for other related contents serving the training and development tasks. The training and development institution or agency organizing the civil servant development class has the responsibility to specify in the internal financial regulations the expenditure standards and usage of the class management budget in compliance with current state regulations.”

8. Amend the name and add the last bullet point, Point k Clause 2 Article 5 as follows:

“Expenditure on organizing field trips and practical visits as required by the training program issued by the competent authority.

- Expenditure on renting conference halls and accompanying equipment; costs for documents, office supplies, drinking water, common medical supplies; remuneration, food allowances, travel expenses, room rental for lecturers, interpreters, and other necessary expenditures serving field trips and practical visits (if any) as decided by the training and development institution or agency organizing the civil servant development class: implemented in accordance with current financial expenditure regulations and the provisions of Points a, b, c, d, đ, and i of this clause.”

Article 2. Implementation clause

1. This Circular takes effect from March 20, 2023.

2. During implementation, if there are any difficulties, please report them to the Ministry of Finance for timely resolution./.