The decentralisation committee yesterday agreed to set up a subcommittee headed by caretaker Deputy Finance Minister Varathep Ratanakorn to look into the deadline, a source at Government House said.

The 35-per-cent support from the government was scheduled to come into effect by next year, with many services such as education and public health being transferred to local bodies.

But with the delays in transferring responsibility it was decided to study extending the deadline.

Meanwhile, many local government bodies are in line to collect a share of almost Bt250 million as a reward for their public administration standards. The money will be handed over at a ceremony on August 24 with about 1,000 local government representatives attending, a source said.

Four outstanding provincial administration organisations would each receive Bt5 million, while 34 rewards worth Bt2 million each would be given to other municipalities.

A further 62 rewards of Bt1 million each would go to outstanding tambon administration bodies.

The selection criteria for the rewards were based on the Royal Decree on Rule and Procedure for Good Public Administration 2003. The local bodies were assessed and deemed "outstanding" by their respective provincial committees. A central committee made the final selections.