news

reporter wang zhen

as ofaugust 28,have20the provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) have made public the audit work reports on the implementation of the provincial (municipal) budget and other fiscal revenues and expenditures in 2023, including:4the provincial audit found that the special funds for the rural compulsory education student nutrition improvement plan were misappropriated, embezzled, and delayed in payment, involving a total amount ofnearly 500 million yuan。

the amount involved in delayed payment is the largest, exceeding 230 million yuan. among them, chongqing city conducted an audit on the management and use of special funds for the rural compulsory education student nutrition improvement plan and the implementation of relevant policies in 8 districts and counties from 2021 to august 2023, spot-checking a total of 927 million yuan in funds and extending the investigation to 515 schools. the audit results showed that the finance bureaus of three districts and counties failed to allocate 214 million yuan in nutrition meal subsidy funds within 30 days as required. an audit of 10 counties in hunan province found that 5 counties failed to timely allocate 22.746 million yuan in nutrition meal subsidy funds to 308 schools and 3 catering companies.

the amount involved in the misappropriation was about 56 million yuan. among them, hunan province found that 35 schools in three counties illegally misappropriated 3.2358 million yuan of nutrition meal subsidy funds for canteen staff wages and other expenses. liaoning province focused on auditing the management and use of special funds for rural student nutrition meals in five counties and found that three counties illegally used 53.6264 million yuan of special funds for "three guarantees" (guaranteeing basic livelihood, wages, and operating expenses) and other expenses.

cases of misappropriation of special funds for rural student nutrition meals involved nearly 37 million yuan. among them, hunan province pointed out that five counties misappropriated 17.1478 million yuan in nutrition meal subsidy funds by falsely reporting the number of meal days; seven schools in four counties misappropriated 6.1469 million yuan in student meal expenses and other funds by falsely listing food purchases, etc., which were used to pay benefits to faculty and staff.

liaoning province focused on auditing the management and use of special funds for the rural compulsory education student nutrition improvement program in five counties.during the audit, it was found that five counties falsely reported dining data and obtained an additional 13.2891 million yuan in subsidies.ten schools in three counties embezzled 286,300 yuan by issuing false invoices and falsely reporting food usage, and 39 schools in four counties misappropriated 242,900 yuan in food expenses.

in addition, the national audit office6month discovery，from 2021 to august 2023, 66 counties misappropriated 1.951 billion yuan of student nutrition meal subsidy funds to repay local debts and other expenditures. however, so far, no province has disclosed this information.

the national audit office recommends that we implement the people-centered development philosophy, safeguard and improve people's livelihood, fulfill fiscal investment responsibilities, and make up for the shortcomings in rural infrastructure and basic public services as soon as possible. we should implement the "warm people's hearts" campaign with heart, emotion and effort, urge local governments to fulfill their main responsibilities in the rural compulsory education student nutrition improvement plan, and ensure that every penny goes to students; we should ensure regular assistance to low-income people, strictly implement various measures to promote farmers' income growth and enrichment, and effectively protect farmers' property rights such as land contracting and collective asset income.

the hunan provincial department of finance, department of education and other competent departments recently jointly issued the "notice on further strengthening the management of funds for the rural compulsory education student nutrition improvement plan", which made provisions in three aspects: implementing local expenditure responsibilities, standardizing fund use and management, and strengthening fund supervision responsibilities. it requires that the daily operating expenses such as water, electricity, gas, etc. incurred by schools that independently operate canteens be included in the school's public funds expenditure, and expenses such as hired personnel benefits shall be solved by the county-level finance; it is clear that the surplus funds of school canteens should be rolled over for nutrition improvement plans and shall not be used for other purposes.

here are the four provinces where the problem was found:

hunan province

according to the unified deployment of the national audit office, audits were conducted in 10 counties. the main problems found are:

first, false reporting to embezzle funds. five counties embezzled 17.1478 million yuan in nutrition and meal subsidy funds by falsely reporting the number of dining days; seven schools in four counties embezzled 6.1469 million yuan in student meal expenses and other funds by falsely listing food purchases, etc., which were used to pay for faculty and staff benefits.

second, funds were misappropriated. 35 schools in three counties illegally misappropriated 3.2358 million yuan of nutrition and meal subsidy funds for canteen staff salaries and other expenses.

third, funds were not disbursed in a timely manner. five counties failed to disburse 22.746 million yuan in nutrition meal subsidy funds to 308 schools and three catering companies in a timely manner.

fourth, the food supply management was not in compliance with regulations. five counties failed to implement the unified procurement regulations for bulk food ingredients; 272 schools in six counties illegally provided deep-processed food, involving funds of 11.3354 million yuan.

chongqing

an audit was organized to audit the management and use of special funds for the rural compulsory education student nutrition improvement plan and the implementation of relevant policies in eight districts and counties from 2021 to august 2023. a total of 927 million yuan of funds were sampled and 515 schools were investigated. the audit results show that the relevant districts and counties have promoted the standardization of campus canteens, implemented the requirements for unified lunch supply in canteens, and continuously improved the nutritional status of rural students. the main problems found in the audit are:

first, some nutrition and meal funds were out of supervision. three districts and counties allocated part of the central nutrition and meal subsidy funds to the fiscal escrow fund accounts or the school's actual fund accounts, and the use of some funds was out of fiscal supervision. some schools in the three districts and counties did not record the student meal fees collected in time. some schools in the three districts and counties did not refund the overcollected student meal fees in time.

second, some schools did not strictly manage food procurement and meal supply. in three districts and counties, rice, flour, oil and other bulk food ingredients were not purchased in a unified manner according to regulations, and some food suppliers violated the contract and sold at a higher price. in eight districts and counties, some schools illegally provided deep-processed foods with low nutritional value and infrequent supply of fresh vegetables.

third, the funding application was not in line with the actual situation or the allocation was not timely. the funding application plans of eight districts and counties did not match the actual situation, and they applied for more nutrition meal subsidy funds than the number of students who benefited and the actual number of days in school. the finance bureaus of three districts and counties failed to allocate 214 million yuan of nutrition meal subsidy funds within 30 days as required.

liaoning province

the audit focused on the management and use of special funds for the rural compulsory education student nutrition improvement plan in five counties. the results showed that the five counties were able to improve the working mechanism, strengthen the conditions and guarantee, and improve the nutritional status of rural students. the main problems found were:

first, the application and use of funds were not in compliance with regulations. three counties illegally used 53.6264 million yuan of special funds for "three guarantees" and other expenditures; five counties falsely reported dining data and obtained an additional 13.2891 million yuan in subsidies.

second, they misappropriated subsidy funds. ten schools in three counties misappropriated 286,300 yuan through false invoices and false reporting of food usage, and 39 schools in four counties misappropriated 242,900 yuan in food funds. some schools used nutritious meal ingredients to make morning and evening snacks and charged extra for them or sold them to others or used them for themselves.

third, there are loopholes in supervision. three counties failed to follow regulations in purchasing bulk food ingredients and illegally extended contracts with suppliers, involving a purchase amount of 44.0978 million yuan; 82 primary and secondary schools in four counties illegally provided non-compliant food; a soybean oil winning enterprise in one county failed to supply grade 1 and above soybean oil as agreed in the contract; 61 schools in two counties failed to separately account for and manage nutrition meal funds, listed food purchase funds on receipts, and kept public funds privately; some schools' purchases did not match the sample records.

shanxi province

tunliu and five other counties received an extra 2.8499 million yuan in nutrition and meal subsidies by over-reporting the number of students who benefited and the number of days students actually spent in school;

hunyuan and five other counties failed to timely allocate 7.8368 million yuan in nutritional meal subsidies to schools and catering companies;

lingqiu and six other counties illegally allocated 38.8745 million yuan in nutrition and meal subsidies to the actual fund accounts of relevant schools;

linxian and four other counties failed to strictly implement the canteen meal policy requirements and adopted the snack-break model to provide nutritious meals, involving 14,100 students and 28.6787 million yuan in nutritious meal subsidies;

three companies in three counties including heshun colluded in bidding or forged qualifications to win bids for five catering projects, involving nutritional meal subsidies of 11.3169 million yuan;

168 schools in eight counties including shanyin illegally provided students with deeply processed and high-fat and high-sugar foods, involving 64,400 students and 14.2679 million yuan in funds;

five non-compliant business units in two counties, including tunliu, supplied food to schools or provided meals to students, involving 4,275 students and providing nutritional meal subsidies of 1.9747 million yuan.