(3) Opposition to the Outline for Reforming the Public Service System Ryutaro Hashimoto, even after he stepped down as prime minister, was keen on reforming the public service system along with the reorganization of central ministries and agencies. In the Mori administration he personally stepped forward as the minister in charge of administrative reform and proposed a new personnel system, which was approved by the Cabinet in December 2001 as “the Outline for reforming the public service system”.(4) Diversification of appointments Drastic reform of the national public service system did not proceed, but some reforms were implemented. One such improvements in operations that were not systemic and did not meet expectations for drastic institutional reform.reform was the diversification of appointments. In 1996, the government of Ryutaro Hashimoto established the Administrative Reform Council to study the reorganization of central ministries and agencies. This was followed in 1997 by the establishment of the Public Service System Study Council as an advisory body to the prime minister, which began studying fundamental reform of the public service system. In 1999, the Council’s report recommended that the public service system be transformed into a flexible and efficient management system to deal with increasingly complex and demanding administrative issues and changes in the employment environment, and to restore public confidence by strengthening its capacity. It also identified “openness”, “diversity and flexibility”, “transparency”, “emphasis on ability and perfprmance”, and “emphasis on autonomy” as perspectives for reform. Although the direction of the report was carried over into subsequent reforms, the report as a whole tended to call for The Outline attracted much attention, including a revision of the recruitment examination system, the promotion of private sector personnel, the establishment of a National Strategic Staff to assist the prime minister in planning and formulating major Cabinet policies, the reduction of the authority of the NPA, and the introduction of a competency grade system. However, the Outline was also strongly criticized for being pushed through the Cabinet without sufficient coordination among the parties concerned; for transferring the authority for prior approval of re-employment from the NPA to the Ministers of each ministry, effectively facilitating Amakudari, which was opposed by public opinion; and for the unchanged restriction of basic labor rights, which was opposed by the labor unions. As the result, the revision of the National Public Service Act based on the Outline was abandoned. In 1999, the Public-Private Personnel Exchange Law was enacted, which in principle allows personnel exchange of up to three years between the national government and private enterprises through the NPA. The exchange consists of dispatches from the national government to private enterprises and appointments from private enterprises to the national government. While the main purpose of the exchange is to develop human resources, it also aims to utilize the efficient and flexible business operations of private enterprises within administrative management and to promote mutual understanding between the public and private sectors. Several institutional changes have been made to activate an adequate exchange by 2023, but the imbalance between dispatch and appointment is a major challenge. The number of dispatched personnel has been low, in part because of staffing cuts, and in 2022, represented only one-tenth of the appointed personnel from the private sector8. In 2000, the Fixed Term Appointment Law was enacted, which allows highly specialized personnel, such as lawyers and certified accountants, to be paid a higher salary level commensurate with their expertise and experience, for a period not to exceed five years. Fixed-term appointments are also used to replace employees on childcare leave. In 2007, the childcare leave system was extended to include the parallel appointment of two childcare part-time employees to the same position, and childcare part-time ability to reduce working hours until a child enters elementary school was introduced to promote greater 15
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