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Following is a question by the Hon Margaret Ng and a written reply by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Rafael Hui, in the Legislative Council today (November 8):
Question:
Regarding the proper management and preservation of records of the Government and statutory bodies to facilitate public access, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether any laws of Hong Kong or government regulations have imposed restrictions which prohibit or hamper the identification, transfer and preservation of and public access to archival records including records created electronically; if so, how these restrictions are dealt with at present;
(b) how the Government guards against malicious destruction of or tampering with government records; whether there were such acts identified in the past five years; if so, how such acts were found out and the consequences thereof;
(c) whether there were any archival records the public access to which was withdrawn or threatened to be withdrawn by the Government in the past five years; if so, how such acts were found out and the consequences thereof; and
(d) given that records of statutory bodies (such as the Hospital Authority) are created by public money, whether there is any mechanism for ensuring that such records are properly managed for accountability and public access, and whether they are selected for transfer to the government archives for preservation and public access?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) Government has put in place administrative arrangements to facilitate the identification, transfer and preservation of and public access to archival records. These include establishment of the Government Records Service (GRS) to oversee the management of government records on a government wide basis; promulgation of relevant records management procedures and guidelines; and appointment of Departmental Records Managers in each bureau and department to ensure that government records are properly managed and maintained.
The provisions of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, Cap. 486 could impact upon the transfer and preservation of archival records where the records are comprised of personal data. In maintaining archival records, GRS complies with all the laws of Hong Kong and government regulations.
(b) Under the records management guidelines, records proposed by bureaux and departments for destruction have to be vetted by GRS before actual disposal. Disciplinary action will be taken against civil servants for maliciously destroying or tampering with government records. No such disciplinary cases were processed under the Public Service (Administration) Order during the past five years.
(c) During the past five years, the Government has not withdrawn or threatened to withdraw public access to archival records.
(d) There are some 200 statutory bodies set up by enabling legislation; not all of them are publicly funded. All statutory bodies have to operate within the confines imposed by relevant legislation and have to be accountable for their own proper management. They are not obliged to transfer their records to GRS. That said, the Government does encourage statutory bodies to adopt appropriate measures to enhance their transparency and accountability to the public. Many of them have made available for public inspection papers and minutes of meetings, statistical reports, human resources information and statistics, and other documents and papers.
Ends/Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:36
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