Circular No. 21/2017/TT-BLDTBXH Amending and supplementing certain articles of the Joint Circular No. 26/2014/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BTC-BGDĐT guiding financial management regulations and implementation of the Project "Strengthening the Social Assistance System in Vietnam" funded by the World Bank.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing some articles of Circular Joint Circular No. 26/2014/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BTC-BGDĐT guiding financial management regime and implementation of the Project "Strengthening the Social Assistance System in Vietnam" using World Bank loan funds

On the basis of the Financing Agreement No. 5354-VN signed on April 24, 2014 between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the International Development Association;

The Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs issues this Circular amending and supplementing some articles of Circular Joint Circular No. 26/2014/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BTC-BGDĐT dated September 22, 2014 of the Ministers of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Finance, and Education and Training guiding the financial management regime and implementation of the Project "Strengthening the Social Assistance System in Vietnam" using World Bank loan funds.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing some articles of Circular Joint Circular No. 26/2014/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BTC-BGDĐT dated September 22, 2014 of the Ministers of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Finance, and Education and Training guiding the financial management regime and implementation of the Project "Strengthening the Social Assistance System in Vietnam" using World Bank loan funds

Pursuant to Decree No. 14/2017/NĐ-CP dated February 17, 2017, of the Government, stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs;

Pursuant to Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law 2015;

Pursuant to Decree No. 79/2010/NĐ-CP dated July 14, 2010 of the Government on public debt management operations;

Pursuant to Decree No. 16/2016/NĐ-CP dated March 16, 2016 of the Government on the management and use of official development assistance (ODA) and concessional loans from foreign donors;

1. Supplement Clause 10, Article 2 as follows:

At the proposal of the Director of the Legal Department and the Director of the Project Management Board "Strengthening the Social Assistance System in Vietnam";

"10. Recipient: is the legal representative of the household to receive the integrated social assistance package, including the following categories: (a) The person representing the household who registers to receive money; (b) The person authorized by the person representing the household who registers to receive money; (c) The person named in the list to receive on behalf of the household confirmed by the People's Committee of the commune, but not being an employee of the payment agency."

2. Amending and supplementing Point b Clause 5, Clause 9 and Clause 10, Article 6 as follows: a) Amending Point b Clause 5 as follows:

"b) Prepare and consolidate the project activity plan, financial plan, and report on the project's operation at the provincial level quarterly, reporting on the project's operation and disbursement at the provincial level to the Central Project Management Board and performing tasks according to specific regulations in the Organizational and Operational Regulation of the Provincial Project Management Board;"

b) Amending Clause 9 as follows:

"9. Provincial Post Office, District Post Office: shall be responsible for implementing according to Clause 2, Article 15 of this Circular. The District Post Office shall make payments to the correct beneficiaries according to the list provided by the District Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; quarterly and annually, settle accounts with the District Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs regarding the number of beneficiaries who have received and those who have not received benefits. In case of loss of money during the organization and implementation of payments, incorrect payments to beneficiaries, or incorrect amounts according to the payment list, the District Post Office shall be responsible for recovering, compensating the beneficiaries or the contracting agency, and bear legal responsibility."

c) Amending Point b Clause 10 as follows:

"b) Prepare the monthly payment list according to the prescribed support levels; withdraw budget estimates for the integrated social assistance package within the allocated budget; at the end of the fiscal year, return to the state budget any unspent funds for beneficiaries. Transfer funds and provide the monthly payment list to the District Post Office according to Point b, Clause 2, Article 15 of this Circular."

d) Supplementing Point c after Point b Clause 10 as follows:

"c) Advise the Chairman of the People's Committee of the district to issue a decision approving the list of village cooperators. Manage the activities of village cooperators according to the management and reporting procedures of the village cooperators network of the Project "Strengthening the Social Assistance System in Vietnam" issued in Decision No. 76/QD-BQLDA dated June 22, 2016 by the Director of the Project Management Board "Strengthening the Social Assistance System in Vietnam" and the activity plan of village cooperators approved by the Central Project Management Board. Monthly, prepare and transfer the list of village cooperators to the Post Office for payment, and be responsible for managing and tracking the payment settlement files of village cooperators (copies) transferred by the Post Office."

3. Amending and supplementing Point a Clause 1, Article 14 as follows:

"a) Application form: Beneficiaries under the support policy submit an application form to join the Project (Annex attached) and the following documents according to each category:

- For children aged 0 to under 3 years old: A copy of the birth certificate or birth confirmation of the child or confirmation from the People's Committee of the commune (for particularly difficult communes) about the date of birth of the child in the application form;

- For children aged 3 to 15 years old: A copy of the birth certificate of the child or confirmation from the People's Committee of the commune (for particularly difficult communes) about the date of birth of the child and confirmation from the People's Committee of the commune that the child is not currently attending school in the application form."

4. Amending Clause 2, Article 15 as follows:

"2. Organizations shall pay the integrated social assistance package through the Postal Service:

- For pregnant women: A prenatal examination certificate or ultrasound report (indicating full name, date of birth, address of the pregnant woman, fetal age, expected delivery date) confirmed by a healthcare facility;

- The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs at the authorized level, which has been allocated the state budget (domestic budget and foreign capital), to implement policies as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 15 of this Circular, shall sign a contract with the District Post Office for the payment of the integrated social assistance package to households and send two copies of the contract to the Provincial Project Management Board and the Central Project Management Board as the basis for settling fees for the District Post Office;

- The Provincial Project Management Board shall sign a contract with the Provincial Post Office for the payment of service fees for beneficiaries and payment of remuneration to village cooperators according to Point b, Clause 1, Article 11 of this Circular.

4. Amend Clause 2 of Article 15 as follows:

“2. The organization responsible for disbursing the consolidated social assistance package through the Post Office:

a) Signing contracts for the payment of the consolidated social assistance package for households with postal agencies:

- The Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs Department, upon being assigned by the competent authority, shall prepare the state budget estimate (domestic budget and foreign capital) to implement the policies stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 15 of this Circular, sign a contract with the County Post Office regarding the disbursement of the consolidated social assistance package to households, and send two copies of the contract to the Provincial Project Management Board and the Central Project Management Board as the basis for payment of disbursement fees to the County Post Office;

- The Provincial Project Management Board shall sign a contract with the Provincial Post Office, in accordance with Point b of Clause 1 of Article 11 of this Circular, concerning the payment of service fees for disbursement to beneficiaries and payment of remuneration to village cooperators.

b) Transfer of funds for payment:

- Monthly, the Department of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs shall base on the list of beneficiaries receiving social assistance and support under the consolidated social aid package for each household (including those who have increased or decreased compared to the previous month); the amount of funds allocated for social assistance and support payments in that month (including back payments and funeral expenses for social welfare beneficiaries); withdraw the budget at the State Treasury, issue payment orders to transfer money to the County Post Office and prepare the list of payments for the following month (including the household assistance package list and the village cooperators' list) to be submitted to the County Post Office before the 30th day of the month.

- Monthly, the Central Project Management Board shall base on the request for advance payment from the Provincial Project Management Board for postal service fees and remuneration for village cooperators (for the following month); complete the necessary control procedures and transfer the funds into the transaction account of the Provincial Post Office opened at a bank within seven working days.

- The Provincial Post Office shall transfer the remuneration for village cooperators into the transaction accounts of the County Post Offices opened at banks within two working days from the date of receipt of funds from the Central Project Management Board.

c) Place and time of payment:

- Payment of the consolidated social assistance package for households from the 5th to the 18th of each month in the following forms:

+ Concentrated at the Village Cultural Post Office, Post Branch, or payment location arranged by the Post (for communes without a Village Cultural Post Office, Post Branch);

+ At home for households where beneficiaries cannot go to the post office, post office branch, or designated payment location due to old age, severe disability, extremely severe disability without a substitute to receive assistance, and households facing difficulties in collecting money at centralized payment locations. The list of these beneficiaries shall be compiled by the Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs cadres at the commune level, confirmed by the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, reported to the Department of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs for consolidation, and transferred to the County Post Office for payment.

- Remuneration for village cooperators shall be paid at centralized payment locations and during the same payment period as the consolidated social aid package. Village cooperators must personally collect their remuneration and cannot authorize another person to collect it on their behalf. If village cooperators fail to collect their remuneration for three consecutive months, this remuneration will not be paid out, and the County Post Office shall notify the Department of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs for appropriate action.

d) Payment process:

- For the consolidated social assistance package for households:

+ Based on the monthly payment list provided by the Department of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs, the County Post Office shall transfer the household list to the payment points to organize payments for households. The County Post Office shall arrange convenient payment points for households to collect money.

+ Payment officers of the Post Office require recipients to sign and clearly write their full name on the payment list; simultaneously, the Post Office payment officer signs to confirm in the record book of received social assistance payments for the household. In cases where the recipient is unable to sign, they shall use a fingerprint and the Post Office payment officer shall ask and clearly write the recipient's full name. In cases where the household does not collect social assistance or when the payment officer delivers at home but there is no recipient, the payment officer shall return the unspent funds to the County Post Office to be transferred for payment in the following month.

+ In case a household fails to collect money for two consecutive months, the Post Office payment officer shall be responsible for coordinating with the Commune People's Committee to investigate the reasons. If the beneficiary has died, gone missing, or moved away, the Commune People's Committee shall inform the Department of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs to process the cessation or suspension of social assistance payments according to regulations.

- For the payment of remuneration to village cooperators: The County Post Office shall transfer the payment list to the post offices to carry out payments and require village cooperators to sign and clearly write their full name on the payment list.

d) Reporting and settlement:

- Monthly, the County Post Office shall compile and report the number of households and village cooperators who have received money, the total amount of payments made, and the list of households and village cooperators who have not yet collected social assistance to be transferred for payment in the following month to the Department of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Provincial Project Management Board, and the Provincial Post Office before the 20th day of the month; simultaneously send copies to the Commune People's Committee in the area for monitoring and supervision.

- Monthly, the County Post Office shall transfer the settlement vouchers (signed lists) of the funds already paid to households and return the unspent portion of the funds (for December) to the Department of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs as the basis for finalizing the state budget; transfer the settlement vouchers (signed lists) of the funds already paid to village cooperators and return the unspent portion of the funds (for December) to the Provincial Post Office for consolidation as the basis for finalizing with the Central Project Management Board.

- Monthly, the Provincial Post Office shall transfer the settlement vouchers (signed lists) of the funds already paid to village cooperators and return the unspent portion of the funds (for the fourth quarter) to the Central Project Management Board.

- Quarterly, the Department of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs shall transfer the report on the settlement of the additional beneficiaries' payment data of the project and the confirmation of the County Treasury regarding the funds spent on the additional beneficiaries of the project to the Provincial Project Management Board for consolidation and submission to the Central Project Management Board to process the refund with the World Bank.

- Regularly quarterly and annually, the Provincial Project Management Board shall compile and report the implementation status of payments and the settlement of payment funds to the Central Project Management Board, the Department of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Department of Finance, the Department of Education and Training, and the Provincial People's Committee.

Article 2. Implementation Provisions

1. This Circular takes effect from September 22, 2017.

2. Repeal Point b Clause 5, Clause 9, and Point b Clause 10 Article 6; Point a Clause 1 Article 14; Clause 2 Article 15 Joint Circular No. 26/2014/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BTC-BGDĐT dated September 22, 2014 of the Minister of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Education and Training. guiding the financial management system and implementation of the "Strengthening Vietnam's Social Assistance System" Project using World Bank loan funds.

3. In case the referenced documents in this Circular are replaced or amended, they shall be implemented according to the replacing or amending documents.

4. During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, agencies and units are requested to promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs for research and resolution./.