## Section 9

## Forming a New Phase of Relationships between the Central and Local Governments and Private Sectors

## 1 New Phase of Relationships between the Central and Local Governments

The MLIT is working on the decentralization of power from the state to local public entities, including relaxing regulations that are imposed on localities and transferring paperwork and authorities to local public entities, by taking into consideration the proper shares of responsibility between the state and local public entities for approaching key issues that are directly linked to national livelihood, such as forming dynamic economic societies and regions and assuring safety and security.

With the enactment of the Act on Legislation Designed to Promote Reforms for Enhancing Local Autonomy and Independence (Fourth Package)” regarding the transfer, etc. of paperwork and authorities in FY2014, the MLIT is ready to transfer paperwork, authorities, etc., such as registering onerous passenger transporters, to local public entities starting from FY2015.

A suggestion collection program has also been commenced to invite individual local public entities, etc. to submit their own proposals and explore ways to implement them, to promote new approaches taken at the initiative of localities. A policy for responding to such proposals was approved at a cabinet meeting in January 2015, on the basis of which a fifth package bil was submitted to the Diet in March 2015, calling for delegation of the terms of members of the Architectural Review Board to locals as an approach to local deregulation.

## Driving Public-Private Partnerships, etc

The formation of new schemes of PPP (Public-Private Partnership)/PFI and concrete proposals has been promoted to develop, maintain and manage social infrastructures of real need by expanding the utilization of private funds under stringent financial conditions. More specifically, the MLIT not only conducts surveys and reviews on its own but also extends subsidies, etc. to local public entities or the like.

For example, the MLIT adopted 28 public-private partnership support projects of pioneering nature to receive subsidies for FY2014 and extended aid to the implementation of feasibility studies, etc. for the integrated area development of urban parks and a large-scale commercial facility in a public-private partnership in Machida City, Tokyo. Further, it adopted 11 public-private partnership earthquake recovery support projects to receive subsidies for FY2014 and extended aid to the implementation of feasibility studies, etc. for the development and supply of public housing for disaster victims using a regional system of housing production in Otsuchi-town, Iwate Prefecture.

Section 10

## Policy Evaluations, Project Evaluations and Interactive Administration

## 1 Driving Policy Evaluations

Pursuant to the “Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Basic Plan for Policy Evaluations,” the three key schemes of evaluating policies, namely, policy assessments (Project Evaluation Method), policy checkups (Performance Evaluation Method) and policy reviews (Comprehensive Evaluation Method) have been defined to achieve the following three goals: realization of efficient and high-quality nation-oriented administration; promotion of performance-centric administration; and thorough perfection of accountability to the nation. At the same time, individual public-works projects, individual research and development issues, regulations and special taxation measures have been subjected to policy evaluations to suit specific policy characteristics. Further, a framework for assessing the performance results of incorporated administrative agencies has been laid down in accordance with the provisions of the Act on General Rules for Incorporated Administrative Agencies. Within the key schemes, 36 new measures projected in the FY2015 budgetary requests were subjected to a policy assessment in August 2014 and four subjects to a policy review in March 2015. In addition, the performance results of 19 incorporated administrative agencies under control were assessed.

Note