Improving the operational effectiveness of the two-tier local government model

After nearly six months of implementation, the two-tier local government model in Dong Nai has demonstrated clear effectiveness with a streamlined administrative apparatus. The provincial People’s Committee has carried out decentralization and delegation across many sectors, helping ensure smooth management and administration while promoting the proactiveness of the commune-level government.

Officials and civil servants at the Nhon Trach Commune Public Administration Service Center handle administrative procedure dossiers for residents. Photo: Ho Thao.

However, due to various factors, the practical implementation in Dong Nai still faces certain difficulties and shortcomings, especially as the workload at the commune level has increased rapidly while staffing levels have not risen. This issue was raised by many deputies at the 8th session of the 10th Provincial People’s Council. The Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee has proposed decisive solutions to address this matter.

A streamlined apparatus, but an overloaded workload

Ho Sy Tien, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People’s Committee of Long Binh Ward, said that in Long Binh Ward, in addition to the existing commune-level staff, only 19 officials were transferred from the former Bien Hoa City workforce. Of these, nine are responsible for Party-building work and ten for state administration tasks. Meanwhile, after the merger, more than 1,000 tasks from the district and provincial levels were transferred down to the commune level; tasks that commune-level officials had never handled before. As a result, the workload and pressure are extremely heavy.

Pham Thi My Phuong, Vice Chairwoman of the People’s Committee of Bien Hoa Ward, shared that currently each commune or ward has only two specialized divisions: an Economic Division (for communes) or an Economic–Infrastructure and Urban Division (for wards), and a Culture–Social Affairs Division. Each division must handle tasks related to numerous departments and sectors, resulting in very high work pressure. In addition, in some communes and wards, including Bien Hoa Ward, there is a shortage of specialized personnel, especially in areas such as planning, urban infrastructure, compensation and resettlement support, religion, and ethnic affairs.

These were also concerns raised by many other deputies during the 8th session of the 10th Provincial People’s Council regarding the operation of the two-tier local government model.

The deputies frankly acknowledged the practical issues currently being faced and proposed several solutions. They recommended that the Department of Home Affairs advise the Provincial People’s Committee to request competent authorities to conduct re-assessments of commune- and ward-level officials and civil servants, thereby developing training roadmaps and appropriate policy solutions. At the same time, they suggested that the province direct the Department of Home Affairs to advise on strong decentralization in recruitment and rotation of officials and civil servants to localities, with local governments assuming responsibility.

Many deputies also proposed that the Provincial People’s Committee direct relevant departments and agencies to study and issue specific guidelines on recruitment for leadership and management positions in commune-level specialized agencies after implementing the two-tier local government model, such as allowing deferred planning eligibility or competitive examinations for leadership positions. They also recommended reviewing job descriptions, streamlining concurrent positions appropriately, and recruiting additional staff under special mechanisms, prioritizing information technology, cadastral work, land management, construction, healthcare, education, and religion–ethnic affairs. Attention should be given to professional training and advisory skills linked to digital transformation, along with performance-based reward mechanisms rather than degree-based assessments.

The Provincial People’s Committee to implement multiple solutions

According to the Department of Home Affairs, after implementing the two-tier local government model, the Provincial People’s Committee has focused on directing departments, sectors, and localities to organize implementation and advise on issuing documents on decentralization, delegation, and authorization in state management.

This has helped ensure smoother, more timely, and more effective management and administration, while promoting the initiative and responsibility of commune-level governments.

However, alongside achieved results, practical implementation in Dong Nai still presents difficulties and shortcomings. With strong decentralization to the commune level, workloads have increased rapidly while staffing quotas have remained unchanged, leading to a situation described as a “streamlined apparatus but overloaded workload” in many localities, especially wards and communes with strong socio-economic development.

According to the Department of Home Affairs, another challenge is uncertainty regarding authority in areas such as land management, investment, and construction, as some specialized legal regulations have not been amended in line with the two-tier local government model. In addition, some newly decentralized communes and wards lack experience in handling complex dossiers, and the arrangement of deeply specialized personnel in certain fields, such as information technology, education, natural resources and environment, industry and trade, remains limited.

From the time the two-tier local government model began operating until November 30, 2025, the Provincial People’s Committee had issued decisions and documents on decentralization and authorization across sectors and fields, including home affairs, labor, construction, finance, education and training, industry and trade, agriculture and environment, healthcare, culture, sports, and tourism.

Based on feedback from deputies and a clear assessment on issues arising from practice, at the 8th year-end session of the 10th Provincial People’s Council, Nguyen Van Ut, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, outlined key solutions to be implemented in the coming period.

Accordingly, Chairman Nguyen Van Ut stated that to ensure smooth and effective operation of the two-tier local government model in Dong Nai, the Provincial People’s Committee will continue to review and adjust decisions on decentralization, delegation, and authorization to suit the realities of each locality, especially wards and communes with high urbanization rates, ensuring the “6 clarities”: clear personnel, clear tasks, clear timelines, clear responsibilities, clear outputs, and clear authority. The province will also organize in-depth training by sector, focusing on land management, construction, investment, finance, and budgeting for commune-level officials and civil servants. At the same time, it will strengthen professional support from departments and agencies to commune-level People’s Committees during the period when localities are newly assuming authority.

The Chairman emphasized that the Provincial People’s Committee will prioritize allocating resources for investment in headquarters, equipment, and digital transformation, especially for remote and disadvantaged communes, to ensure working conditions and public service delivery. The province will review, rearrange, and reassign commune-level officials and civil servants according to job positions, with mechanisms to mobilize and reinforce specialized staff for areas with heavy workloads.

The province will also periodically conduct reviews and evaluations of decentralization and delegation across Dong Nai, promptly proposing to the central government amendments and supplements to regulations that are not aligned with the province’s rapid development. Through these efforts, Dong Nai is determined to promptly address shortcomings and limitations, ensuring that the two-tier local government model operates substantively and effectively, without causing bottlenecks in administrative procedure resolution.

By Ho Thao - Translated by Quynh Nhu, Thu Ha