Continue to further enhance the quality of monitoring the promulgation of legal documents.

On the morning of October 21st, at the 8th session of the 15th National Assembly , the Head of the People's Petition Committee, Duong Thanh Binh, presented the report of the National Assembly Standing Committee on the results of monitoring the resolution and responses to petitions from voters submitted to the 7th session of the 15th National Assembly.

On the morning of October 21st, at the 8th session of the 15th National Assembly, Head of the People's Petition Committee Duong Thanh Binh presented the report of the National Assembly Standing Committee on the results of monitoring the resolution and responses to petitions from voters submitted to the 7th session of the 15th National Assembly. (Photo: DANG KHOA)

Regarding the recommendations and responses to voters' requests, through voter outreach meetings, 2,289 voter recommendations were compiled and forwarded to the relevant authorities for resolution. Several areas continued to be of significant interest to voters, including: labor, war invalids and social affairs; health; transportation; agriculture and rural areas; resources and environment; and education and training. To date, 2,238 recommendations have been resolved or responded to, achieving a 97.8% resolution rate.

The National Assembly and its agencies responded to all 35/35 petitions, achieving 100%. Many issues of concern to voters that were petitioned have been accepted by the National Assembly and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, closely linked to legislative activities, supervision, and decision-making on important national issues. The Government and central ministries and agencies have resolved and responded to 2,112/2,162 petitions, achieving 97.7%.

Scene of the opening session of the 8th Session, 15th National Assembly. (Photo: Dang Khoa)

The Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate have resolved and responded to all 27/27 petitions, achieving 100%, including responses regarding financial support for local People's Courts to organize online trials; strengthening equipment and facilities for local People's Procuratorates; and guidance on the application of some articles of the Criminal Procedure Code…

Monitoring results show that, in addition to the achievements, the handling of voters' petitions still has some limitations that affect the legitimate rights of some individuals and the effectiveness of some preferential policies of the state. One of the main reasons for this situation is the slow pace of lawmaking.

3 years later, the policy still cannot be implemented because it is waiting for instructions.

Report cited, on January 18, 2022, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 90 approving National target program on sustainable poverty reduction for the 2021 - 2025 period.

Accordingly, "low-income workers" are among the beneficiaries of the policy on "developing vocational education in poor and disadvantaged areas".

However, since 2022, voters in many localities have repeatedly petitioned the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to issue specific guidelines on identifying "low-income workers". Because there is no basis for defining what constitutes a "low-income worker," localities have been unable to implement the policy under Decision No. 90.

This means that, nearly three years after Decision No. 90 came into effect, there are still no guidelines for defining "low-income workers," so this preferential policy has not been implemented in practice, while the decision's implementation period is only a little over a year away.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly recommends that the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs urgently advise on the development and submission to the Government of guidelines for identifying "low-income workers" as a basis for localities to implement, while also drawing lessons from the process of advising on and developing policies to ensure that the policies are effectively implemented in practice.

Vaccine shortage due to slow planning

The report also mentioned that voters in many localities reported a lack of vaccines in the country. Expanded immunization program at public health facilities Therefore, many children are not vaccinated on schedule or have not received enough doses, so they are at high risk of infection.

Monitoring has shown that the Government issued Resolution No. 98 dated July 10, 2023, on allocating central government budget for 2023 to the Ministry of Health to purchase vaccines for the Expanded Immunization Program. The Resolution identified ensuring the earliest possible availability of vaccines as an urgent task and assigned the Ministry of Health, in July 2023, to submit to the Government a draft decree amending Decree No. 104 regulating immunization activities using a simplified procedure.

However, it was not until February 5, 2024, that Decree No. 13 amending Decree No. 104 was issued, according to which central government budget allocations are made within the Ministry of Health's recurrent expenditure budget to ensure funding for activities in the Expanded Immunization Program.

It was not until June 2024 that the Ministry of Health issued the 2024 expanded vaccination plan, too late for localities to implement.

According to reports, vaccine shortages in the Expanded Immunization Program have been occurring in many localities since the end of 2022, and this situation still persists as of September 2024.

The Standing Committee recommended that the Government direct the Ministry of Health and localities to take drastic measures to ensure adequate and timely supply of vaccines in the Expanded Immunization Program.

According to the report, voters in Thai Nguyen and Lang Son provinces have requested that the Ministry of Health promptly issue economic and technical norms to serve as a basis for calculating the price of medical services.

Monitoring has shown that, according to Decree No. 60, the roadmap for calculating the price of public service fees was basically completed by the end of 2021; and according to Decree No. 96 detailing some provisions of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment: "Medical examination and treatment facilities may continue to pay for medical examination and treatment costs according to regulations issued or approved by competent authorities until new regulations are issued, but no later than December 31, 2024."

To date, the Ministry of Health has not yet issued all the necessary guiding documents within its authority regarding the pricing methods and specific prices for medical examination and treatment services, even though there are only about three months left until the deadline for applying the new medical examination and treatment service prices.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly recommends that the Ministry of Health urgently issue economic and technical norms and methods for calculating the price of medical examination and treatment services to be applied from January 1, 2025.

The assessment report also stated that, recently, voters in many localities have also raised numerous issues related to adjusting monthly allowances for young volunteers who completed their duties during the resistance war; policies and regulations for preschool teachers; support for students and schools in particularly difficult communes and villages, and students in ethnic boarding schools and ethnic preparatory universities.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly recommends that: National Assembly agencies continue to further enhance the quality of their oversight of the promulgation of legal documents. National Assembly delegations should continue to improve the quality of compiling and classifying voters' recommendations; ensuring that consolidated reports on voters' recommendations are submitted promptly and in accordance with regulations.

For the Government and central ministries and agencies: Focus on addressing the shortcomings and limitations mentioned in the report; continue to pay more attention to resolving and responding to voters' requests.

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