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Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan, at the Hong Kong Social Workers Association 50th Anniversary Dinner today (Friday ).

Justina, guests, and friends in the social welfare sector,

I am very pleased to join you on this occasion to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Hong Kong Social Workers Association. Most of you will know that I turned 60 this week. This year also marks my 38th year in the Civil Service of which 12 years have been spent in the social welfare field, directly or indirectly. So I think I can comfortably say this Association and I have grown up together. Together we have witnessed the remarkable changes that Hong Kong has gone through in the past fifty years. We have worked side by side to make Hong Kong a better place for all.

My years in the Social Welfare Department have given me a better understanding of the nature of social work, its impact on society and the difficulties faced by front line workers. I have great admiration for you all as enablers and agents of social change and for your sense of commitment to the community. Every modern society needs good professional social workers. Equipped with the right skills, properly motivated and led, your profession can do much to redress the inequities inherent in any capitalist society and to ensure that the needs of the disadvantaged, the sick, disabled and elderly are met.

All over the world, governments and organizations, whether public or private, are forced to change to cope with the challenges of the 21st century. The key challenges for us here in Hong Kong are :

(a) addressing the growing needs of the population and the rising expectations of the community,

(b) meeting these expectations from limited resources, both as a result of the Asian financial turmoil and because in a maturing economy, we can no longer expect the same strong economic growth that we enjoyed in earlier decades;

(c) learning not just to cope with but to exploit the fast moving technological changes which are transforming the way we live and work.

In the welfare sector, the Government and the NGOs have to work hand-in-hand to meet these challenges and to make the most of the opportunities that these challenges bring.

Despite the economic difficulties brought about by the Asian financial turmoil which, amongst other things, have led to much reduced revenue for the Government, Hong Kong is fortunate that we are still able to provide for growth in social services. Recurrent expenditure on welfare has quadruppled from $7 billion to over $29 billion in just eight years. Direct subvention to welfare NGOs have jumped from $1.8 billion to $6.2 billion over the same period. With slower overall growth, and increasing demands from the community, it is clear that we cannot go on injecting more money into the welfare sector without satisfying ourselves that we are obtaining value for money and addressing the real needs of the community. Within the Civil Service, we are looking critically at the way in which we manage and deliver services and I urge the subvented welfare sector to do the same. Standing still is simply not an option. There are 3 key objectives :

(i) ensuring that community needs are met in the most cost-effective manner. This means regularly reviewing the services provided on the ground, resetting priorities and redeploying resources from one service area to another;

(ii) improving productivity so that more can be achieved with existing resources and new resources;

(iii) raising standards of transparency and accountability for the money that is spent.

The Government realizes that for too long, we have tended to measure performance in the subvented welfare sector by rigidly controlling inputs rather than looking at the outcome or results. We want to move away from this approach so that you can largely decide how you will use these resources and have a better incentive to experiment with new approaches and thus improve the quality of your services. That is why we are proposing a new lump sum funding arrangement that will give greater flexibility to agencies. But an inherent part of this flexibility must be a willingness on the part of the subvented welfare sector to manage their resources and to account for their use. In other words, manage for results by results. We must move away from the mindset that spending more money will inevitably lead to better results. Not so. What will produce better results is innovation, a willingness to move with the times, a clear understanding of needs and service objectives, good quality delivery and a means of measuring results.

I know that the Social Welfare Department has been discussing with agencies the new funding proposals as well as ways of introducing competition into various new services. On the basis of the views expressed by you all, we hope to be in a position to finalise the details soon. I urge you all to be receptive to changes which should enable you to better serve the community nor should you be overly concerned about how this might affect you personally and individually. The Government's objective is not to cut back on welfare spending but to ensure that resources, including new resources are deployed in the most optimum manner to meet the changing needs of our community.

Finally, let me say a word about skills and training. Like other professions, the modern day social worker must be equipped not only with the necessary professional skills and knowledge but also with improved communication skills, managerial know-how and application of information technology. This is where your Association can help. In particular there is a need for closer links between the formal social work education and field practices. Social workers must use every opportunity to update themselves on skills, knowledge and community needs, through in-service training, refresher courses and post graduate studies.

The Government and NGOs have for a very long time, worked together in close partnership, to plan, develop and deliver quality welfare services in Hong Kong. I am confident that this partnership will strengthen in the coming years. We share a common mission to help the disadvantaged and vulnerable members of our community.

In closing, I congratulate the Association on your fine achievements over the past 50 years. Your contribution will be even more important in this new millennium as we cope with a fast changing and complex society. I wish you well in all your endeavours.

Photo: The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan, addressed the Hong Kong Social Workers' Association's 50th Anniversary Banquet. Mrs Chan delivered a speech at the Banquet.

End/Friday, January 21, 2000

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