Minister Ibayashi Press Conference Summary
Overview
The minister explained that allocations from the Social Infrastructure Development Comprehensive Grant are determined by comprehensively considering local governments’ requests, project progress, and whether projects qualify for priority allocation. In the FY2026 initial budget, about 10% of the prefectures and municipalities that requested funding received allocations below 50% of the previous fiscal year’s level. The minister said he had received a report that Representative Yanagi’s inquiry was not conveyed to the department responsible for the projects and did not affect the allocation process. He also said he had received a report that he had again concluded there was no fact that road budgets were cut in the manner reported. Officials had judged that no record of the inquiry needed to be created, in light of the guidelines. The minister instructed staff to arrange a session explaining the grant system and the principles behind allocations.
Key points
- The minister said he had received a report that Representative Yanagi’s inquiry did not affect the allocation process.
- No record was created of the inquiry in this matter.
- He instructed officials to explain the grant system and the principles behind allocations.
Overview
The press conference addressed additional explanations and the basis for reductions involving Nasukarasuyama City and Nakagawa Town, Representative Yanagi’s inquiry and record management, and concerns about allocations combining prefectures and cities or towns. The minister said the overall structure of the grant system and the relationship between the national and prefectural governments needed to be explained.
Impact
The minister said he had received a report that the inquiry around mid-February was not conveyed to the department responsible for the projects and had no effect whatsoever on the allocation process. He also said he had received a report that he had again concluded there was no fact that road budgets were cut in the manner reported.
Details
Under the FY2026 initial budget, nationwide funding requests greatly exceeded the budget amount. The minister said that when local governments raised questions or made inquiries, officials would hear the circumstances individually and work to communicate closely while carefully listening to local conditions.
As of October 2, the minister understood that the inquiry had not been conveyed to the department responsible for the projects. On October 7, former Senior Vice-Minister Sasaki explained that he had not asked the project department about FY2026 allocation amounts and had not mentioned Representative Yanagi’s name. Whether to create a record was decided in light of the Cabinet Office’s “Guidelines on the Management of Administrative Documents,” and this matter was deemed not to require one. The minister said future decisions would also follow relevant laws and regulations.
The minister instructed officials to arrange a session explaining the overall structure of the system and the principles behind allocations. The explanation would cover the approach of comprehensively considering local governments’ requests, project progress, and whether projects qualify for priority allocation.