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Following is a question by the Hon Emily Lau on retired civil servants employed in statutory organisations and a written reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Joseph W P Wong, in the Legislative Council today(May 12):

Question:

Regarding the taking up of employment in statutory bodies by retired civil servants, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a) of the number, in the past three years, of directorate officers who took up employment in statutory bodies within the two years following retirement, together with details of their employment, including the names of the bodies concerned, positions held, dates of appointment, remuneration and benefits, and whether they were allowed to continue to receive their monthly pensions while being so employed; and

(b) of the measures to eliminate the belief held by some members of the public that "senior positions of statutory bodies are set up for retired senior government officials"?

Reply:

Madam President,

Under the pensions legislation, a retired civil servant who has been granted a pension has to seek the prior approval of the Chief Executive before taking up employment or engaging in business activities the principal part of which is carried on in Hong Kong within two years of his retirement. Retired civil servants at the rank of Administrative Officer Staff Grade A1 are required to seek approval within three years of retirement. The objective is to ensure that the proposed employment would not result in any conflict of interest with an officer's previous service with the Government or adversely affect the image of the Government. This policy contributes to public confidence in the integrity of the civil service. Each application will be considered on its own merits.

Under section 11 of the Pensions Ordinance and section 26 of the Pension Benefits Ordinance, if a retired civil servant is re-appointed to the public service, or appointed to service in any subvented organisation which is determined to be public service by the Chief Executive by notice in the Gazette, his monthly pension may be suspended. As a general principle, for applications from retired civil servants whose employment is on a part-time or short-term basis, they are allowed to continue to receive their monthly pension in view of the short-term nature of these appointments.

Against the above background, my reply to the question is as follows:

(a) In the past three years, a total of 43 applications involving 34 retired directorate officers for post-retirement employment in statutory organisations were approved. Details are as follows:

                                1.4.2001     1.4.2002    1.4.2003
                                   to             to           to
                               31.3.2002    31.3.2003   31.3.2004
 
 No. of applications
 approved:
 
 Part-time employment#         7               4           17
 Full-time employment          5(1*)          6(5*)        4(1*)
 Total                           12              10           21

# part-time employment does not involve pension suspension

(*)denotes the number of cases involving pension suspension out of the total number of cases because the employment is with one of the statutory organisations which is determined to be public service for the purpose of pension suspension under the pensions legislation

Information supplied by retired civil servants in respect of their positions held and remuneration packages in the proposed employment is solely for the purpose of enabling the Administration to process their applications for post-retirement employment. We are therefore not in a position to disclose details of their employment. That said, to enable Members to gain a better picture of the overall situation, a list showing the names of the statutory organisations in which retired directorate officers have taken up employment in the past three years and the nature of the employment is at Annex.

(b) Within the powers conferred on them by the respective ordinances that provide for their establishment, statutory organisations are independent bodies and have full autonomy in matters pertaining to the employment of their staff as prescribed for under their relevant legislation. The ordinances of these statutory organisations do not provide for any specific employment considerations which give preference to any particular group or sector of candidates. Given the respective statutory objectives of these organisations, they would take into account their specific management and operational requirements and the need for openness and fairness in recruiting and employing their staff.

Ends/Wednesday, May 12, 2004

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