ACRC: "Restricting Subsidies Based on Relocation of Local Children's Center Is Unreasonable"

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced that it has expressed the opinion that restricting subsidy support by treating a long-standing local children's center as a new facility simply because it relocated to another area is unreasonable.

Mr. A operated a local children's center in Region B for about 20 years. When continuing operations at the existing location became difficult, Mr. A relocated to Region C. During the relocation process, Mr. A was informed by the local government that changing the center's location was permissible, and subsequently signed a lease agreement.

Around the same time, however, the Ministry of Health and Welfare changed its guidelines to require operators changing a center's location to close the existing center and file a new establishment report. As a result, Mr. A's center was classified as a new facility and became ineligible for the subsidies previously provided to existing facilities.

In response, the ACRS stated, "Mr. A proceeded with the relocation procedures in consultation with the two local governments. Imposing all the disadvantages resulting from the regulatory change solely on Mr. A falls somewhat short in terms of the principle of protection of trust and the predictability of administration," expressing the opinion that the local government should disburse the subsidies.

Furthermore, the ACRC stated, "Restricting subsidy support by treating a center as a new facility simply because it relocated to the jurisdiction of another basic local government restricts the operator's freedom of choice regarding residence and facility relocation," and proposed an institutional improvement to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

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※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.