Circular No. 172/2012/TT-BTC on the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of funds for state administrative reform work

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of funds to ensure activities for popularizing, educating about laws, standardizing access to laws, and grassroots mediation

ensuring the work of administrative reform in state agencies

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Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 118/2008/NĐ-CP dated November 21, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Implementing Resolution No. 30c/NQ-CP dated November 8, 2011 of the Government promulgating the overall program for administrative reform in state agencies for the period 2011-2020;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Financial Administration and Public Services;

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular prescribing the procedures for preparing budgets, managing, using, and settling accounts for funds ensuring the work of administrative reform in state agencies as follows:

Article 1. General Provisions:

1. Scope of application:

a) Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, People's Committees at all levels;

b) The central agency for administrative reform under the Government (Ministry of Home Affairs);

c) Agencies assigned the task of drafting and implementing programs specified in Resolution No. 30c/NQ-CP promulgating the overall program for administrative reform in state agencies for the period 2011-2020.

2. Scope of Application:

This Circular prescribes the procedures for preparing budgets, managing, using, and settling accounts for state budget funds ensuring the work of administrative reform in the overall program for administrative reform in state agencies for the period 2011-2020 approved according to Resolution No. 30c/NQ-CP dated November 8, 2011 of the Government.

3. Sources of funds:

a) Funds ensuring the work of administrative reform are guaranteed by the state budget and other legitimate sources of funding.

b) Funds ensuring the work of administrative reform at each level are guaranteed by the respective level's budget according to the current budget decentralization and are allocated in the budgets of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and People's Committees at all levels as prescribed by the State Budget Law and other related laws.

4. Funds ensuring the work of administrative reform must be managed and used for their intended purposes, in accordance with the current financial regulations and the provisions of this Circular.

Article 2. Contents of Expenditure

1. Expenditure to ensure the performance of tasks of the central agency organizing the implementation of the overall program for administrative reform in state agencies for the period 2011-2020 under the Ministry of Home Affairs; expenditure on management and operation of the program.

2. Expenditure on drafting program outlines; expenditure on organizing meetings for comments and reviews of annual plans, five-year plans, program outlines, and special topics on administrative reform.

3. Expenditure on drafting normative legal documents serving administrative reform work.

4. Expenditure on research topics serving administrative reform work; research on building a set of indices for monitoring and evaluating administrative reform in ministries, sectors, and localities: drafting special topics of programs and projects on administrative reform.

5. Expenditure on organizing training courses, enhancing professional skills and information technology knowledge for staff working on administrative reform; expenditure on organizing training courses to raise awareness and provide information to cadres, journalists, and editors responsible for administrative reform sections and columns in local and central media outlets.

6. Expenditure on organizing surveys, collecting information, compiling statistics, and processing statistical data on administrative reform; surveys on the satisfaction of individuals and organizations regarding administrative reform.

7. Expenditure on organizing summary meetings, final meetings, scientific seminars, and forums sharing experiences on administrative reform.

8. Expenditure on information dissemination and promotion of administrative reform:

a) Expenditure on building news articles, publications, and communication products on administrative reform; expenditure on designing banners, posters, and slogans for promoting administrative reform;

b) Expenditure on establishing and maintaining regular columns on administrative reform in mass media; expenditure on building, upgrading, managing, and operating the administrative reform database system and website;

c) Expenditure on organizing competitions on administrative reform.

9. Expenditure on organizing inspection and supervision teams to review the implementation of administrative reform, teams traveling to implement related tasks, and teams conducting surveys and learning experiences on administrative reform both domestically and internationally.

10. Expenditure on hiring domestic and foreign experts for consultation on administrative reform.

11. Expenditure on purchasing publications, books, magazines serving research on administrative reform.

12. Expenditure on rewarding collectives and individuals who have made achievements in administrative reform activities.

13. Localities, within their own budgets, should pay attention and create conditions to invest in equipment, facilities, and annual operational funds for the One-Stop Service Units (units receiving and delivering results) of each locality according to the State Budget Law and guiding documents.

14. Expenditure supporting civil servants working at One-Stop Service Units in localities (One-Stop Services, interlinked One-Stop Services).

15. Other expenditures serving administrative reform work:

a) Overtime expenditure;

b) Translation expenditure.

c) Expenditure on office supplies, materials, equipment, and other direct costs for implementing administrative reform tasks.

Article 3. Budget Allocation Levels

Specific expenditure levels are detailed in the attached annex to this Circular.

The expenditure levels prescribed in this Circular are maximum levels. Based on actual circumstances, the complexity of each task, and budget capacity, Ministers of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, heads of government agencies; People's Committees report to Provincial People's Councils to specify specific expenditure levels that are appropriate and do not exceed the levels prescribed in this Circular. When the expenditure levels in existing normative legal documents are amended, supplemented, or replaced by another document, they shall be applied according to the amended, supplemented, or replacing document.

In cases where ministries, sectors, and localities have not issued documents specifying specific expenditure levels but require them for work purposes, the heads of agencies and units may decide to apply corresponding expenditure levels for specific tasks without exceeding the provisions of this Circular, ensuring economy and avoiding waste within the allocated budget.

Article 4. Establishment, Implementation, and Settlement of Budgetary Expenses

The preparation, implementation, and settlement of funds for the execution shall be carried out in accordance with the current provisions of the State Budget Law, the Accounting Law, and other guiding documents currently in effect. This Circular provides guidance on specific points as follows:

1. Establishment of budget projections:

Annually, the Ministry of Home Affairs, as the permanent agency organizing the implementation of the Administrative Reform Program, is responsible for guiding ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, provincial people's committees, and centrally governed city people's committees to develop administrative reform plans as the basis for preparing annual state budget estimates.

Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, provincial people's committees, and centrally governed city people's committees shall develop plans and prepare budget estimates for implementing administrative reform projects, plans, and tasks according to five-year plans and annual plans approved by competent authorities.

The ministry or agency primarily responsible for national-scale administrative reform programs as stipulated in the Appendix to Resolution No. 30c/NQ-CP shall coordinate with relevant agencies to develop and submit these programs and projects for approval by competent authorities. Tasks for implementing national-scale programs and projects shall be allocated within the annual budget estimates of the ministry or agency primarily responsible for them.

For regular administrative reform tasks of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, and local people's committees at all levels (such as strengthening the supervision of administrative reform implementation; continuing to train and enhance the cadre and civil servant workforce; inspecting and evaluating administrative reform work; promoting administrative reform among cadres and civil servants under their jurisdiction...) shall be included in the annual regular expenditure budget estimates of the respective agencies and units according to the current budget classification.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible for reviewing the objectives, contents, and administrative reform tasks in the annual budget estimates of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, provincial people's committees, and centrally governed city people's committees.

2. Use and settlement of funds:

Based on the budget estimate granted by the competent authority, the head of the agency or unit is responsible for allocating and assigning the budget estimate for administrative reform work to subordinate units after receiving the review comments from the same-level financial agency.

For the funds for implementing national-scale programs and projects as stipulated in the Appendix to Resolution No. 30c/NQ-CP, which are allocated in the budget of the agency primarily responsible for the program or project, the related agencies that cooperate in implementing the program or project shall enter into a contract to perform the task with the agency primarily responsible for the program or project and receive funding from it. The agency primarily responsible for the program or project is responsible for settling the funds for implementing the program or project with the same-level financial agency in accordance with the State Budget Law.

Funds for administrative reform tasks should be recorded in the corresponding expenditure item of the state budget ledger according to current regulations.

Settlement of administrative reform funds shall be consolidated into the annual budget settlement of the agency or unit in accordance with the regulations.

Article 5. Implementation Provisions

1. This Circular takes effect from December 10, 2012, and replaces Circular No. 99/2006/TT-BTC dated October 20, 2006, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding the preparation of budget estimates, management, and utilization of funds for ensuring state administrative reform work.

2. During the process of implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, they should be reported to the Ministry of Finance for study and resolution./.