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The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan, introduces the Government Minute responding to Report No. 34 of the Public Accounts Committee in the Legislative Council today (October 18). The full text of her speech is as follows:
Madam President,
Laid on the table today is the Government Minute responding to Report No. 34 of the Public Accounts Committee. The Minute sets out the measures the Government has taken, or is planning to take, on the conclusions and recommendations contained in the Report.
The Committee selected for detailed study three of the eight subjects investigated by the Director of Audit in his Value For Money Report No. 34. For the other five subjects not selected for detailed study by the Committee, the relevant bureaux and departments have followed up on the recommendations of the Director of Audit, and they make regular progress reports. Through this reporting system we intend to co-operate with the Committee to pursue these recommendations to improve the use of public resources in the five subject areas.
The Honourable Eric Li, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the first term of this Legislative Council, spoke on 21 June 2000 when tabling the Committee's Report. I would like to respond to some of his remarks.
I agree with Mr. Li that in the past two years the workload of the PAC has been exceptionally heavy. We thank Mr. Li and Members of the Committee for their painstaking work, and for their contribution to our common goal of ensuring that public services are delivered in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Indeed the PAC has a track record in assisting the Administration in improving the standards of accountability in the management of public finances. This fine tradition derives from the close and co-operative working relationship that has developed between the Committee and the Administration over the years. We look forward to continuing this tradition with the Committee in this new session of the Legislative Council.
Let me now turn to some of the specific points made by Mr. Li about the three subjects covered in Report No. 34.
Services provided by the Official Receiver's Office
The Administration shares the concern of the Committee about the weaknesses in the management of the Official Receiver's Office. As can be seen from the Government Minute tabled in this Council today, various immediate measures have been taken to address some of the specific points raised by the PAC, including the secondment of an experienced Administrator to the Official Receiver's Office, on a temporary basis, to assist the Official Receiver in establishing an effective and modern internal control system. In addition, the Secretary for Financial Services will soon conduct, through a Consultancy Study, a fundamental review of the role of the Official Receiver having regard to the socio-economic changes in Hong Kong and the development of insolvency administration overseas.
The Financial Services Bureau will continue to monitor closely the work of the Official Receiver's Office in implementing the recommendations of the Committee. Mr. Li suggested that we should clarify the relationship and lines of accountability between Policy Bureaux and departments. I wish to re-iterate the points made by the Director of Administration in her letter of 24 May 2000 to the Legislative Council Secretariat. Policy Secretaries focus on the initiation and formulation of policy and programmes as well as legislative proposals. They set objectives and monitor the performance of the departments under their purview so that the overall policy aims and targets are achieved. It is neither practicable nor desirable for Policy Secretaries to oversee the daily routine operations of departments under their portfolios. The extent of involvement of Policy Secretaries in a particular departmental issue is therefore dependent on operational circumstances, and the relative gravity of the issue. A decision must be made on a case-by-case basis.
Management of outdoor road maintenance staff
The Administration agrees with the Committee that the Highways Department management has a responsibility to monitor the productivity and performance of outdoor road maintenance staff. The Highways Department has taken improvement measures as detailed in the Government Minute, on questions such as productivity standards in work allocation, monitoring of staff productivity, and control over overtime allowance claims.
More generally, in October 1999, the Civil Service Bureau issued guidelines on the supervision of outdoor duties to all departments and has also taken follow-up action to ensure compliance. The Civil Service Bureau will continue to work closely with the respective policy bureaux to ensure that the performance and productivity of all staff, including those performing outdoor duties, are properly and effectively supervised. Further initiatives are being taken at the central and departmental levels to encourage good performance. In connection with the implementation of the Enhanced Productivity Programme, we have been exploring with individual departments better methods to improve public service in the medium and long term.
The Director of Highways provided the Committee with details of the disciplinary cases but requested that, as a usual practice in the civil service, the names of officers concerned be omitted from the Committee's Report. The PAC has expressed concern whether this serves the purpose for which the disciplinary system is established and goes against transparency in public administration. I wish to reiterate that this practice is in strict accordance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance. We do not see any good reason why this Ordinance should not apply to civil servants.
The administration of the Judiciary
The Judiciary Administration fully recognises the importance of the efficient use of public resources in the administration of justice. The Judiciary Administrator has focused on measures aimed at reducing court waiting time. As noted by Mr. Li, despite a general increase in caseload, the Judiciary has reduced the waiting time in most of the courts and tribunals. Mr. Li has also noted other efforts we had been making to further improve the situation, such as the increase of the financial limit of the District Court from $120,000 to $600,000. The Government Minute reports the measures that we have taken and will be taking, taking into account the views of the Committee. For example, the backlog of cases at the Labour Tribunal has been reduced and case waiting time at the Labour Tribunal will be further reduced. The Judiciary will also review further the jurisdictional limits of the District Court and Small Claims Tribunal.
The Judiciary Administration has started to conduct user satisfaction surveys to obtain feedback on how its services can be improved. It is also refining its management information system with a view to publishing more performance indicators to enhance accountability. However, the Judiciary is not aware of any standard indicators on court sitting hours used in other common law jurisdictions. Nevertheless, the Judiciary Administrator will discuss with the Chief Justice the appropriateness of using some of the refined information to reflect the performance of the Judiciary.
Madam President, once again I wish to express my sincere thanks to the Chairman and Members of the former Public Accounts Committee. We look forward to receiving from the current Public Accounts Committee constructive comments and sound advice, which will help the public service of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region maintain a high standard of efficiency and accountability.
End/ Wednesday, October 18, 2000
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