No.123 Attendance at the House of Councillors Administrative Oversight Committee

On February 14th, I attended the House of Councillors' Administrative Oversight Committee as a witness at the request of the National Mayors' Association.
The responsibilities of this committee include administrative oversight, administrative evaluation, and research related to administration, and the theme for this time is "The Division of Roles between the National and Local Governments".
Along with me, Professor Hiroaki Inatsugi from Waseda University Graduate School of Political Science and Economics and Professor Kimiye Tsuchiyama from Hosei University Faculty of Law were called as witnesses.
I have been to the National Diet Building several times, but this is my first time entering the House of Councillors' annex where the committee is held. Since it is a rare opportunity, I thought about taking a commemorative photo, but I was not granted permission to take photos inside the committee room or outside the building.

The meeting will start at 1 PM, and we entered the spacious committee room that is familiar from television broadcasts. First, three witnesses were given 10 minutes each to present their statements.
From me,

1. Response to COVID-19 (Current Status of PCR Centers and Vaccination)
2. Regarding the Reorganization of the Health Center
3. About Wide Area Support During Major Disasters
4. About Environmental Measures

I have raised issues based on examples of the division of roles between the national and local governments.

1. Regarding this matter, during the early stages of infection when the testing system was inadequate, the national government announced a policy to expand the testing system, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced the establishment of PCR centers in all cities and towns. However, ultimately, only a document was circulated instructing each municipality to set up their own centers. As for vaccination, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare ordered all municipal mayors nationwide to carry out vaccinations, but medical institutions were unevenly distributed, making it difficult for some regions to implement the directives as instructed.

Regarding point 2, it was reorganized in conjunction with the amendment of the Public Health Center Law to the Community Health Law in 1994, reducing the number of public health centers in the Tama area of Tokyo from 17 to 12. In 2000, Tokyo formulated the Second Action Plan for the Reform of the Bureau of Sanitation, and as part of administrative reform, the number was further reduced from 12 to 5.

It is necessary to continue the steady promotion of decentralization reform. However, in the reform process so far, there are cases where, even though the operations themselves have been delegated, the transfer of authority and financial resources has been insufficient. Additionally, it is not simply a matter of letting local governments handle everything; I would like to emphasize that in emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be more rapid and efficient for the national and prefectural governments to handle matters in a unified manner across a wider area.
After the statements from the three individuals, each party had one representative, totaling eight questioners, who asked questions, and the three witnesses provided answers.
Among the committee members, there were familiar faces such as locally elected councilors, councilors I had previously worked with in the Youth Mayor Association, former mayors, and councilors I had met at events, which allowed for a friendly and smooth questioning process.

In fact, when I was first asked to take on this request, I was unsure if I should accept it. I was directly asked by the Secretary-General of the National Mayors' Association and couldn't refuse, so I decided to attend. However, after it was over, I felt that it was a valuable experience and I was glad to participate. I also thought that it might have helped to some extent in raising the profile of Inagi City among the members of the House of Councillors.
We will continue to voice our opinions to the prefectures and the national government from the local level.