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Following is a response by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan, on "Motion of Thanks to the Chief Executive" in the Legislative Council today (November 1):
Madame President,
I am delighted to have the opportunity to wind up this annual debate on the Policy Address on behalf of the Administration and would like to urge Members to support the initiatives set out in the Policy Address. First of all, let me thank Members for their views on the Chief Executive's Policy Address. I hope my colleagues and I have, through the briefings conducted in the past two weeks and the debate this afternoon, demonstrated that we have a positive and visionary blueprint for the future, underpinned by specific measures to tackle the problems of the day.
On the basis of the long-term strategy outlined in his first three Policy Addresses, the Chief Executive has charted the way forward for Hong Kong into the new century. And we are now beginning to see the fruits of the various initiatives. Indeed, people now generally recognise the importance of innovation and technology to our economic development, and attach greater importance to the quality of our environment and sustainable development. I must however stress that, in putting together the building blocks of our long-term vision, we have not lost sight of the immediate needs and concerns of the general public. The Asian financial crisis in the past two years has brought about unprecedented challenges to our economy. We have drawn up timely measures to alleviate its adverse effects on the community and help put Hong Kong back on the path of economic recovery.
This year's Policy Address seeks to address the more immediate concerns of the community, namely, matters relating to education, helping the poor and the governance of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Having listened carefully to the views of Members and the wider community, it is fair to say that the reaction to the Policy Address is on the whole positive. While some Members believe that some of the proposed measures have not gone far enough, the majority view is that they are in the right direction.
Madame President, my colleagues have responded to the main queries and concerns raised by Members in the debate. I would like to comment on a number of issues. First, let me say a few words on the much debated subject of executive accountability.
The Chief Executive announced in his Policy Address that we would examine how the accountability of the 19 principal officials at Secretaries and Directors of Bureaux rank could be enhanced. This announcement has generated considerable interest and debate on how the proposal should be implemented. My colleagues and I are in full support of a thorough study of the whole question of accountability, and will listen most carefully to the views of the community.
I must, however, emphasize that conducting a study into the question of accountability does not mean that we do not have a system of accountability now. Principal officials, and indeed all civil servants, are subject to a set of well-defined rules and proceedings which deals with misdeeds or failures in duty, and which determines appropriate follow up action. To keep pace with our political development and the growing expectation of the public, we consider it opportune to conduct a thorough review of the current system so that the powers and responsibilities of principals officials in formulating and implementing government policies are clearly spelled out. Only then could we define what accountability should mean and where it should rest.
This is a complex subject involving very complicated issues. We will be looking into it in depth. There are, nevertheless, a number of guiding principles which should be sacrosanct. Firstly, the new system must be in line with that set out in the Basic Law. Secondly, consistency and continuity in governance must not be compromised. In practice, that would mean that we will not follow the American system of replacing several thousand officials every few years. We will also not adopt a "Westminster-style Ministerial System" whereby members of the legislature become principal officials. And the political neutrality and impartiality of the civil service and, the permanence and integrity of civil servants in the policy-making process must be guaranteed. In sum, the system must ensure that we maintain a clean, efficient, predictable and professional government which effectively delivers services the public expects of it.
I could go no further than this at this juncture. As I said, the matter involves very complicated issues which have yet to be considered.
Related to the issue of accountability of principal officials is the role of the Executive Council in the formulation and implementation of policies and how the Executive Council relates to the Legislature. We have heard the views of Members on this subject including the possible effect on the composition of the Executive Council. We will take them into account in our study.
For government officials other than the principal officials, there is a general consensus that the present civil service system serves us well and should remain intact. I take exception to the sweeping remarks by some Members that government officials lack sincerity, could not arrive at coherent consensus and are inefficient. Many in the community will agree that it is the culture of objective analysis and problem-solving and the good tradition of consensus building within the civil service that has contributed in part to Hong Kong's stability and prosperity.
That said, we are aware that the present civil service system is not perfect. There is a lot of room for improvement. Since the reunification, we have put in place a number of measures which seek to make the system more flexible and efficient. We have implemented various reforms, the objective of which is to enhance productivity and cost effectiveness, with a view to better serving the needs of the community.
In a rapidly changing information and technology era, we have to reform the civil service to ensure that we can respond to the needs of the community and keep pace with time. To help staff cope with challenges arising from the reforms and to nurture a culture of continuous learning and self-development amongst civil servants, we have earmarked $50 million for the training of civil servants in the next three years. We are also committed to fostering better communication with staff, to encouraging team spirit so as to work towards building a better Hong Kong.
The relationship between the Executive and the Legislature is another issue of particular concern to Members. The Basic Law provides for a system of checks and balances, a complementary relationship between the Executive and the Legislature. Given their respective constitutional roles and responsibilities, it is unrealistic to expect that the two branches would share the same views on each and every issue. Indeed, it should not come as a surprise that there might at times be tension between the two.
We should, however, not let the differences of opinion between the Executive and Legislature on certain matters overshadow the close cooperation between them. For example, the Legislature, in its first term, passed 157 bills, nearly all of the subsidiary legislation and most of the financial proposals put forward by the Administration. This is no small achievement and reflects the close cooperation between the Executive and the Legislature.
That said, we fully appreciate that better co-operation between ourselves and the Legislature would only be to the benefit of the community as a whole. In the light of Members' views, we shall try to improve further and enhance our existing channels of communication. One area which we believe merits closer examination is how we could better make use of the existing Panel system.
With the objective of ensuring that the relevant proposals meet the needs of particular sectors and are in the overall interest of the community, we have made it a general practice to explain and discuss major policy, legislative and financial initiatives with relevant Panels before they are formally introduced into the Council or put before the Finance Committee. However, for want of a more structured approach, the results were not as notable as we had wished. The Bills Committee system has, on the other hand, shown to be an effective mechanism to enable the Administration to discuss and work with Members with a view to ensuring that our legislative objectives are met. In view of this, we wish to explore with Members the possibility of adopting the same modus operandi in respect of the operation of Panels.
As we see it, the advantages are at least two-fold. Firstly, it would enable the Administration to know at an early stage the views and stance of Members on a proposed initiative. Secondly, the public will be able to see the work of Members in the policy-formulation process. I understand that the wish to see a more formal and disciplined arrangement for the operation of Panels is also shared by some Members, and that the Committee on Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council has been tasked to look into the matter in greater detail. I look forward to a constructive dialogue with Members on the matter, and as a means towards further strengthening the cooperation between the Administration and the Legislature.
I would also wish to explore with Members how we could better use the limited time available to Members and officials so that we could focus more on matters of public concern to work for the betterment of the general public.
Indeed, communication between the Administration and the Legislature should not be limited to the confines of the Chamber. My colleagues in policy bureaux and departments regularly explain and exchange views with Members on various policy proposals and respond to Members' queries concerning their work. In future, we would continue to exchange views with Members, both formally and informally, on matters of public concern.
District Councils is another important avenue for reflecting the views of the community. In this connection, the District Councils play a vital role in collating public opinion which enables the government to respond promptly to the needs of districts. Since the establishment of the new District Councils in January 2000, the Government has implemented a series of measures to enhance their role and functions and to strengthen the support for District Council members.
Now that the District Councils have operated for more than ten months, the parties concerned have accumulated some experience. Hence, we will soon be conducting a review to see how we can further enhance the functions of the District Councils. As a first step, we will organize a District Administration Seminar on 18 November and have invited all District Council members to attend. Through this seminar we hope to be able to better grasp the views of District Council members on the District Administration Scheme and the support they require. When we review the functions of the District Councils later, we will consider these views carefully.
Madame President, we have faced up to numerous challenges in the past three years and have learnt some valuable lessons in implementing some much-needed reforms. In putting into effect the Chief Executive's vision for Hong Kong, we would continue to adopt a positive, open and sincere attitude, facing up to our responsibilities and taking into account the views of the community. And I am confident that, with the support of Members and the wider community, we shall achieve our goals. I urge Members to support the Policy Address.
Thank you.
End/Wednesday, November 1, 2000
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