Circular No. 07-TC/TVHC guides the allocation of funds for collective dining halls.

 CIRCULAR
Guidelines for allocating funds for collective dining halls

MINISTER OF FINANCE

Circular of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Labor, Finance, and Internal Trade No. 16-LB/TT dated October 12, 1961 on the system of collective dining halls has stipulated the cost levels for dining halls.

After reaching consensus with the Ministries of Labor, Home Affairs, and Internal Trade, the Ministry of Finance provides detailed guidelines for allocating funds to collective dining halls and for the settlement of income and expenditure of collective dining halls as follows:

1. On the principle of managing collective dining halls:

a) For dining halls that have been transferred to the management of the Internal Trade sector.

All collective dining halls that have been transferred to the management of the Internal Trade sector are independent economic entities engaged in non-profit food service activities, therefore:

- They shall be provided with fixed capital and working capital to fulfill their planned tasks according to the State's capital provision regime for food service enterprises.

- They must maintain accounting records in accordance with the unified State accounting regulations applicable to food service enterprises.

- They must report accounting records as prescribed.

- They must prepare financial income and expenditure plans, labor wage plans, cost plans, etc...

b) For dining halls that have not yet been transferred to the management of the Internal Trade sector.

Dining halls that have not yet been transferred to the management of the Internal Trade sector and do not yet meet the conditions for economic accounting, the relevant agencies and enterprises must manage the dining hall by using the revenue (5% of the meal allowance of cadres, workers, and staff members, and state subsidies of 1đ80 per person per month) to cover all management costs (wages and allowances, social allowances for dining hall staff such as managers, accountants, nutritionists, etc., purchasing and repairing equipment, electricity and water expenses, minor repairs to buildings, etc.).

- Costs related to basic construction (including initial construction and equipment costs) and major repair costs of dining halls shall not be included in the 2đ70 amount but shall be included in the basic construction and major repair budgets of the agencies and enterprises operating the dining halls.

- Each month, agencies and enterprises must report the total subsidy amount provided by the agency or enterprise to the dining hall, the total income from cadres, workers, and staff members, and the total expenditure, while also calculating the average monthly cost per person eating at the collective dining hall.

- If the monthly subsidy amount is not fully utilized, the agency or enterprise may carry over the unused portion to the following month, as there may be months with higher or lower expenditures, some months requiring purchases, others not, but the annual average expenditure for the collective dining hall must not exceed the subsidy rate of 1đ80 per person per month. The monthly settlement report submitted by the agency or enterprise to the finance department should only record the actual expenditure of the collective dining hall and not settle according to the 1đ80 subsidy rate.

2. Contribution rates of cadres and state subsidies:

- Cadres, workers, and staff members of state agencies and enterprises eating at collective dining halls must bear the management costs of the dining hall at 5% of their meal allowance (deducted from their monthly meal allowance).

- The state will provide additional subsidies to collective dining halls to cover all costs, at a rate of 1đ80 per person per month.

The subsidy amount provided monthly by the agencies and enterprises with cadres, workers, and staff members eating at collective dining halls to the dining hall per person. At a meeting convened by the Hanoi Administrative Committee on March 20, 1962, representatives from the Labor, Home Affairs, Internal Trade, Finance Departments, and the Hanoi Food Service Company responsible for managing collective dining halls in Hanoi proposed that agencies and enterprises prepay the subsidy at 95% of the total number of people registered because among those registered, some may be on distant business trips and not eat.

In other regions, financial and trade agencies need to grasp the actual situation of dining halls to determine the number of people who regularly eat at collective dining halls compared to the number of people registered, to submit to the Administrative Committee for decision on the ratio of advance payment of monthly subsidies for dining halls.

The above advance payment regulation simplifies calculations. After a period of monitoring, once the ratio of regular diners to the number of registered people is determined, the finance department will work with relevant sectors to adjust the subsidy distribution method to better reflect reality.

- In cases where agencies and enterprises organize conferences and the collective dining hall must provide services, the agency or enterprise must provide the dining hall with 0đ07 per representative per day.

To ensure operational funds for collective dining halls (to pay wages to dining hall staff, purchase food, and buy necessary items), agencies and enterprises must transfer the subsidy amount to the dining hall on the first or second day of each month. If this deadline is missed, the trade agency may request the bank to deduct the amount from the agency or enterprise's budget or account and transfer it to the dining hall's account to ensure daily food supply for cadres and staff.

3. Contribution rates for families of cadres eating at collective dining halls:

- Families of cadres, workers, and staff members (parents, spouse, children) who have been eating at collective dining halls since before and whose income is below 20đ (certified by the trade union) shall continue to receive the 1đ80 subsidy per person per month from the agency or enterprise. If their income is 20đ or more, the agency or enterprise is responsible for collecting 1đ00 from each person and providing the remaining 0đ80 subsidy to reach the full 1đ80 per person per month to be transferred to the collective dining hall.

- Personal attendants of cadres, workers, and staff members, and other relatives who generally are not allowed to eat at collective dining halls. However, if they have been eating there since before, in addition to the 5% deduction from their meal allowance, they must also pay 1đ80 per person per month to the dining hall, and the state will not provide additional subsidies.

4. Subsidy funds for dining halls:

­- For administrative and public service agencies, the monthly subsidy amount for collective dining halls is allocated from the state budget within the agencies' financial plan and recorded under the "social assistance" section, item "dining hall subsidy".

- For enterprises In general, collective dining subsidies are paid by enterprises and included in non-operating profits and losses. According to Directive No. 127-TTg dated April 1, 1961 of the Prime Minister, enterprises may allocate from their welfare funds to support the development of dining facilities.

- For basic construction units such costs shall be included in the social subsidy level (indirect expenses) in the construction budget.

- For schools such costs shall be covered by the cultural and educational expenses of the school.

5. Guidance on organizational structure, accounting records, accounting calculations, income and expenditure:

The Ministry of Commerce has the responsibility to provide specific guidance on financial management for collective dining facilities that have been transferred or have not yet been transferred to the management of the Commerce sector as stipulated in Circular Joint No. 16-LB/TT dated October 12, 1961.

6. Implementation Plan:

The transfer of collective dining facilities to a collective welfare system began upon the issuance of Directive No. 127-TTg by the Office of the Prime Minister, and at the latest, all collective dining facilities must implement this system by January 1, 1962 (Circular Joint No. 16-LB/TT dated October 12, 1961). Financial authorities will only allocate subsidy funds to collective dining facilities at a rate of 1đ80 per person per month. The Commerce sector and relevant departments and enterprises at all levels need to develop detailed plans, transferring all collective dining facilities by the end of 1962. For those far-flung and scattered facilities, departments and enterprises should report and request the establishment of separate dining facilities for their own organizations, but these must also follow the collective welfare system like other dining facilities.

When transferring dining facilities to the management of the Commerce sector, departments and enterprises must hand over all accounting records, assets, funds, and budgets of the dining facility without withholding anything.

After the transfer, dining facilities must ensure service for the current number of diners and can accept additional diners based on capacity. However, initially, dining facilities need time to reorganize and strengthen their operations, improve management and cooking techniques, so the acceptance of additional diners will be limited. Departments and enterprises wishing to introduce more diners must negotiate with the dining facility beforehand. If there is later capacity, additional diners will be accepted in priority order for state officials, workers, and staff, followed by family members who officials, workers, and staff are directly responsible for.

Apart from breakfast and dinner services for state officials, workers, and staff, collective dining facilities may, based on actual capabilities, provide additional services to cooperative members under a public restaurant economic accounting system similar to state-owned trade food service outlets.

During implementation, if any difficulties arise, departments, sectors, and levels are advised to report to the Ministry of Finance for research and suggestions on solutions.