Streamlining the apparatus: Carefully prepare personnel plans and policies to implement immediately after approval by the Central and National Assembly.

Localities must carefully prepare personnel plans, policies, headquarters, finance, assets, equipment, seals and other conditions to ensure implementation immediately after the Central Government and the National Assembly approve the Project on streamlining the organizational apparatus.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs the fifth meeting of the Steering Committee for Streamlining the Government Apparatus. Photo: Duong Giang/VNA

Party committees and organizations at all levels shall lead and direct local agencies and units to develop a project to reorganize and streamline the apparatus in accordance with the direction of the Central Committee, the Politburo , the Central Steering Committee and the orientations and suggestions of the Government's Steering Committee; carefully prepare personnel plans, policies, headquarters, finance, assets, equipment, seals and other conditions to ensure implementation immediately after the Central Committee and the National Assembly approve (it is expected that the Central Committee and the National Assembly will meet in February 2025). This is the proposal of the Steering Committee on Summarizing the implementation of Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW of the Government for localities when reorganizing specialized agencies under the People's Committees at the provincial and district levels.

Organizing professional agencies

The Government Steering Committee requests the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to assign the Department of Home Affairs to preside over and coordinate with departments, branches and sectors to develop a Project on reorganizing specialized agencies under the People's Committees of provinces and submit it to competent authorities for consideration and decision; advise and submit to the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to issue documents guiding the People's Committees of districts on reorganizing specialized agencies under the People's Committees of districts and centrally-run cities.

The District People's Committee directs the Department of Home Affairs to preside over and coordinate with specialized departments to develop a Project to reorganize specialized agencies under the District People's Committee and submit it to competent authorities for consideration and decision.

Localities direct specialized agencies at provincial and district levels to proactively coordinate with relevant agencies to draft decisions regulating the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of their agencies to submit to competent authorities for promulgation immediately after receiving unified instructions from the Government, ensuring conditions for holding party congresses at all levels.

Localities complete the reorganization of specialized agencies under the People's Committees at provincial and district levels, ensuring synchronization with the completion of the reorganization and streamlining of the Government apparatus (expected to be completed before February 20, 2025 and report the results to the Ministry of Home Affairs before February 28, 2025).

From now until the implementation of the reorganization of specialized agencies under the People's Committees at provincial and district levels, the Ministry of Home Affairs will base on the direction of the Central Steering Committee and the Government Steering Committee to continue to guide and ensure that the reorganization of the state administrative apparatus is synchronous, unified and suitable to practical requirements in the new situation.

The Government Steering Committee also requested localities to strictly perform assigned tasks in accordance with the requirements of the Central Steering Committee and proactively develop plans to reorganize specialized agencies under the People's Committees at provincial and district levels according to the orientation and suggested arrangements in Official Dispatch No. 24/CV-BCĐTKNQ18. During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties or problems, please report them to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the ministries managing the sector or field for synthesis and response according to regulations.

Restructuring or dissolving ineffective public service units

According to Official Dispatch No. 24/CV-BCĐTKNQ18 of the Government Steering Committee, the arrangement of specialized agencies under the provincial People's Committee ensures that the total number of departments under the provincial People's Committee does not exceed 14. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City alone have no more than 15 departments.

For professional agencies under the People's Committee at the district level, maintain professional departments, including: Department of Justice; Department of Finance - Planning; District Inspectorate; Office of the People's Council and People's Committee at the district level.

The Steering Committee orients, suggests the structure, arrangement and reorganization of other specialized departments similar to the arrangement of ministries at the central level and departments and branches at the provincial level. Accordingly, the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs and the Department of Home Affairs will be merged. The Department of Economy, Infrastructure and Urban Areas will be established on the basis of receiving the functions and tasks of advising on state management of construction, transportation, industry and trade at the district level from the current Department of Economy and Department of Urban Management (at districts, towns, cities), and Department of Economy and Infrastructure (at districts).

Establish the Department of Culture, Science and Information on the basis of receiving the functions and tasks of the Department of Culture - Information and the functions and tasks on science and technology from the Department of Economy (at the district, town, city), the Department of Economy and Infrastructure (at the district) currently at the district level.

Establish the Department of Agriculture and Environment on the basis of receiving the functions and tasks of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the functions and tasks of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (at the district level) and the functions and tasks on agriculture and rural development from the Department of Economy (at the town level, city level) currently in the district, town level, and city level of the province.

In the district, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment will remain intact and take over the functions and tasks of natural disaster prevention and control from the current Department of Economics.

The Health Department shall make arrangements in accordance with the situation and characteristics of the local agency. In particular, for localities that currently have a Health Department, this Department shall take over the function of advising on state management in the field of social protection, children and prevention and control of social evils from the current Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs. For localities that have merged the Health Department into the Office of the People's Council and the People's Committee at the district level, based on the situation and characteristics of the local agency, a decision shall be made to assign the Office to take over the function of advising on state management in the field of social protection, children and prevention and control of social evils from the current Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, or to establish a Health Department to perform the functions of this Department and take over the function of advising on state management in the field of social protection, children and prevention and control of social evils from the current Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs.

The Department of Education and Training takes over the functions and tasks of vocational education from the current Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

The Ethnic Affairs Department performs the same as for the provincial level.

Based on the viewpoints, objectives and requirements of Resolution No. 19-NQ/TW dated October 25, 2017 of the 6th Central Conference, Session XII on continuing to innovate and manage, improve the quality and efficiency of public service units, the Government Steering Committee recommends that localities reorganize and streamline the focal points of public service units at the provincial level that are not yet autonomous in regular expenditures according to the principle: A public service unit can provide many public service services of the same type to significantly reduce focal points, overcome overlap, dispersion and duplication of functions and tasks.

Restructuring or dissolving ineffective public service units, ensuring improvement of the quality of providing basic and essential public service units associated with restructuring and reducing civil servants receiving salaries from the state budget (such as: reducing the number of press, cultural and information units; restructuring ineffective vocational training institutions...).

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