Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda held the 13th meeting of the Local Sovereignty Strategy Council at the Prime Minister's Office.

Discussion took place on reforming ministerial branch offices and introducing subsidies in the form of block grants.

The Prime Minister said in his opening address, "Since we took over the government, I think we have been steadily promoting reforms for regional sovereignty, while obtaining cooperation from you. For one thing, there is the Forum for Consultations between the National and Regional Governments which will be convened right after this meeting. We have created this forum through legislation, and established the law concerning the revision of the system of obligations and frameworks.
Although we will be discussing it later, I would like to note that investment-oriented subsidies for prefectures, which will be integrated into block grants, are being implemented within the scope of a 512 billion yen budget. The issues concerning this include further enhancement of programs for prefectures and introduction of the same scheme to municipalities, and I expect to hear constructive opinions on them.
Concerning the reform of ministerial branch offices, preparations are underway within the Union of Kansai Governments, and the Action Plan has been approved by the Cabinet. With this meeting as a starter, I would like to advance the work for this mainly with the three top ministry officials, and submit a legislative bill by the next year's ordinary Diet session."