Strengthening decentralization and delegation of authority in planning activities

Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang spoke to explain and clarify a number of issues raised by National Assembly deputies. (Photo: DANG ANH)

The National Assembly discussed in the hall the projects: Law on Cyber Security, Law on Protection of State Secrets (amended).

Ensure the planning system is operated consistently

Presenting the Report on the draft Law on Planning (amended), Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang emphasized that the new point of the draft Law is to perfect the regulations on the planning system, the relationship between types of planning and handling conflicts between planning; strengthen decentralization and delegation of authority in planning activities; simplify processes and procedures in planning activities; perfect regulations on planning content; remove difficulties and obstacles related to assessing the conformity of investment projects with planning.

Regarding the adjustment of the National Master Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, the Minister of Finance stated that the planning contents are supplemented and adjusted to suit the arrangement of administrative units at all levels, implementing the two-level local government model; striving to achieve the double-digit growth target in the 2026-2030 period and the following years; implementing major policies of the Party and State on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and digital transformation, education and training, etc.

Discussing in groups, opinions expressed agreement with the Government's Proposal on the necessity, scope and direction of adjusting the National Master Plan. Delegate Tran Thi Hien ( Ninh Binh Delegation) also pointed out a number of shortcomings and limitations: The urban system and spatial organization of development are not reasonable; the development thinking is scattered, lacking focus and key points; there is still looseness in the implementation mechanism, linking regions-industries-localities... Therefore, when adjusting the National Master Plan for the period 2021-2030, it is necessary to review the "prioritization of regions and industries" to avoid spreading; ensure that the proposed targets are accompanied by implementation resources, clear mechanisms, and appropriate decentralization; promote regional-industry-locality linkages, avoiding each place doing things "individually" and lacking synchronization. It is necessary to ensure feasibility and implementation ability based on the conditions of each locality; At the same time, strengthen the evaluation of effectiveness and flexibly amend planning contents to suit the actual situation and international fluctuations.

Discussing the draft Law on Planning (amended), opinions also pointed out that planning work in the past has revealed many shortcomings. Therefore, this amendment must be truly strong, breakthrough, and solve the bottlenecks at the root, creating a foundation for rapid and sustainable development; ensuring that the planning system is operated in a unified, interconnected and effective manner at all three levels: national-regional-provincial.

Some delegates also pointed out: The draft Law has not clearly defined the situation, but the reality is that it is a situation of "suspended planning". Therefore, the Drafting Committee needs to study and add a provision regulating the responsibility to review and remove suspended planning, requiring the planning approval agency to periodically inspect the projects in the planning; at the same time, add a compensation mechanism for people in case the planning is canceled after many years of non-implementation.

Also in the morning, the National Assembly discussed in groups the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Urban and Rural Planning.

Quantify confidential document criteria to ensure consistent application

Commenting at the discussion session on the draft Law on Protection of State Secrets (amended), delegate Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap delegation) suggested that the drafting agency review the regulation on the scope of state secrets because it is currently too broad with 13 types of information that must be stamped as confidential, including information that needs to be made public to the public such as information on rural and urban development planning, information on hydrometeorology. The delegate suggested that the decoding and destruction of documents should not be a council but should only be regulated for the head to implement and take responsibility.

Regarding prohibited acts in protecting state secrets, delegate Duong Khac Mai (Lam Dong delegation) said that in reality, there are still many cases of using peripheral storage devices that do not ensure security, safety, are not registered for management, and are used to connect to computers used to draft and store state secrets... Therefore, this act should be strictly prohibited in the law. In addition, the draft Law needs to have provisions clearly stating the responsibilities of the heads of agencies and organizations directly managing state secrets to increase deterrence and management effectiveness.

At the discussion session, delegate Nguyen Phuong Thuy (Hanoi delegation) pointed out the shortcomings: When applying, many agencies tend to choose the option of sealing the secret for sure because there are no quantitative criteria, no specific instructions to distinguish which secrets need to be protected, which information needs to be public, and to what extent it is considered potentially harmful. The delegate suggested specifying the scope of state secrets; strictly reviewing, limiting only to cases that are truly necessary, with clear criteria; avoiding inferences and excessive secrecy in the law. It is necessary to quantify the criteria to ensure consistency when applying or assigning the Government to specify this content. Along with that, add content on prohibiting intentional acts or abusing the identification of secrets for information that is not within the scope of the list of State secrets stamped with a secret seal to conceal information and avoid accountability.

After the discussion, Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang said that he would take full advantage of the opinions of National Assembly deputies on the draft Law; would reduce internal administrative procedures but would add regulations on control as well as measures to protect documents when taking them away or returning them with state secrets; and amend regulations on the period of protection of state secrets, extension, period of protection of state secrets, declassification, and destruction of documents and objects containing state secrets to suit the practical situation.

On the same afternoon, the National Assembly discussed the draft Law on Cyber Security.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tang-cuong-phan-cap-phan-quyen-trong-hoat-dong-quy-hoach-post921546.html