Return of local assembly research funds up 2.4-fold in FY07 as rules tightened
Written by Meenaa on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
Return of local assembly research funds up 2.4-fold in FY07 as rules tightened
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Prefectural assembly groups and members returned 555.16 million yen in unused allowances earmarked for policy research activities and related purposes to their local governments’ coffers in fiscal 2007, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey.
The figure accounted for 4.3 percent of the total allowances paid out for such purposes, and marked a 2.4-fold increase on the previous year.
One factor behind the increase was the increasing number of local assemblies, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, that require assembly members to submit receipts for purchases made with the allowances. The action taken by the assemblies also came in the wake of public criticism arising from revelations that assembly members misappropriated part of their allowances for car loan payments and restaurant and bar bills.
According to the results of the survey, which was sent to secretariats of prefectural assemblies, the total amount of returned funds increased by 324.92 million yen in fiscal 2007 from 230.24 million yen in fiscal 2006.
Funds were returned at assemblies in 45 out of the 47 prefectures, the exceptions being Ibaraki and Okinawa. The returned amounts increased from the previous fiscal year in 35 prefectures.
Osaka Prefecture returned the largest amount at 56.5 million yen, a fivefold jump from the previous year, followed by Saitama Prefecture with 53.36 million yen and Hyogo Prefecture at 52.28 million yen.
Fukuoka Prefecture spent all of its allowance fund in the fiscal years up to and including fiscal 2006, but it returned 16.9 million yen in fiscal 2007.
From the start of fiscal 2007, eight prefectural assemblies began obliging their members to attach receipts to their reports detailing the use of funds. Of the eight, seven saw an increase in the amounts returned.
The increase in the seven prefectures accounted for about 40 percent of the total increase in returned funds.
Assemblies in 17 prefectures had obliged their members to attach receipts to their reports by the end of fiscal 2007. Five of them were among the six prefectures in which the share of returned funds exceeded 10 percent in fiscal 2007. Assemblies in 28 prefectures, including Tokyo, plan to introduce the obligation for members in fiscal 2008 or at a later date, and assemblies of the remaining two prefectures are considering it.
Residents who claimed funds have been misused have led the call for auditing of assembly members’ spending.
In Kyoto Prefecture, auditors judged that 75 million yen had been spent inappropriately in fiscal 2006. Assembly members there returned 44.94 million yen of the fund in fiscal 2007. The figure was the fourth highest.
(Nov. 19, 2008)
