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Following is a question by the Hon Patrick Lau and an oral reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Miss Denise Yue, on remuneration of government employees in the Legislative Council today (May 14):
Question:
Quite a number of professionals from the construction industry have relayed to me that the Government's existing staff appointment policy has many problems (such as applying different modes of appointment and offering different remunerations to employees undertaking comparable duties and responsibilities, and offering the starting-point salaries of the relevant ranks to newly-appointed civil servants regardless of their work experience, etc.). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the current numbers of staff of the ranks of Architect, Building Surveyor, Maintenance Surveyor, Estate Surveyor, Quantity Surveyor, Land Surveyor, Town Planner and Landscape Architect in various government departments, broken down in table form by government department, rank, post-qualification experience (i.e. three years or below, four to six years, seven to nine years and 10 years or above) and mode of appointment (i.e. being appointed on pensionable terms, contract terms, non-civil service contract terms, non-civil service temporary contract terms and indirect employment through outsourcing), as well as the amounts of pay at the minimum and maximum salary points of such ranks under different modes of appointment;
(b) why the authorities, in converting some serving non-civil service staff to civil servants, ignore their current salaries and relevant work experience, and only offer them the starting-point salaries of the ranks concerned, and how the authorities resolve the above problems with the appointment policy and ensure that the departments concerned can recruit sufficient professional staff who are professionally qualified and possess the necessary work experience, so as to safeguard the quality of the future 10 major infrastructure projects and maintain staff morale; and
(c) given that the Government has resumed the recruitment of civil servants, whether the authorities will reconsider converting serving non-civil service staff with the relevant experience to civil servants by "through train"; if not, what other arrangements the authorities have put in place?
Reply:
Madam President,
On the first part of the question, the total number of civil servants in the Architect, Building Surveyor, Maintenance Surveyor, Estate Surveyor, Quantity Surveyor, Land Surveyor, Town Planner and Landscape Architect grades in various government departments as well as those serving as non-civil service contract (NCSC) staff in these professions is around 1,600. Besides, for staff in these professions but are employed by the companies responsible for specific outsourced public works projects, since they are managed by the companies concerned, we do not have information on the total number of staff and other relevant details.
The Administration is also requested in the first part of the question to provide detailed information about the staff employed under different modes of appointment as mentioned above. In view of timing and resources constraints, we have set out in Annex I and Annex II respectively information on the civil servants and NCSC staff which is available in hand.
I would like to take the opportunity to explain to Members that during the recruitment process of civil servants and NCSC staff, any person with the specified professional qualifications may apply for the posts, and the recruiting departments will select candidates on the basis of their overall performance. The Civil Service Bureau does not collect statistics on the post-qualification experience of candidates after they have been appointed. As such, we are unable to provide the requested information in this respect.
Turning to the second part of the question, the NCSC Staff Scheme, introduced in 1999, provides bureaux/departments with a flexible means to employ staff to complement the civil service for meeting service needs which are time-limited, short-term, subject to market fluctuations; or which require staff on a part-time basis; or where the mode of delivery of the service is under review or likely to be changed (for example, providing services through outsourcing). In short, unlike civil servants, NCSC staff are not part of the permanent civil service establishment. As such, the entry requirements and selection process for NCSC positions may be different from those of civil service posts. As the respective purposes and circumstances for employing civil servants and NCSC staff are different, they have distinct employment packages and pay adjustment mechanisms.
It is our policy that all new civil service appointees, irrespective of whether they belong to professional or non-professional grades, should receive salary at the starting pay point of his/her rank. This is in accord with the principle of prudent use of public funds. Also, the starting pay point of the civil service jobs is clearly known to candidates applying for these posts. The appointment authority may grant incremental credit for recognised experience to new appointees in a recruitment exercise only if the following two criteria are met in that particular exercise - i.e. where there are recruitment difficulties and it is considered that the new appointee, irrespective of whether or not he/she was a former NCSC staff, possesses experience that is particularly relevant to operational requirement. This policy and related arrangements have been implemented in various open recruitment exercises. So far the grades concerned have not encountered any difficulties in recruiting the required number and calibre of professionals into the civil service to implement major infrastructural projects and other government works projects.
As regards the third part of the question, it is our established policy to fill civil service vacancies through an open, fair and competitive recruitment process under which qualified candidates are selected on the basis of merits. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to adopt a "through train arrangement" whereby serving NCSC staff would be automatically transferred to the civil service. Such an arrangement would also be unfair to those persons who wish to join the civil service but are currently not working in the Government as NCSC staff, as they would be deprived of the opportunity to compete for civil service openings. Having said that, we welcome serving NCSC staff interested to join the civil service to take part in the open recruitment for those posts where they can meet the basic entry requirements. With the experience they have accumulated in the Government, they should have a competitive edge.
Moreover, in accordance with our established appointment policy, new appointees to the civil service normally have to go through a probation period of three years. The appointment authority may, having regard to the circumstances of individual cases, reduce up to half the required probation period for new appointees who have served in the Government with duties similar or comparable to those of the civil service ranks concerned, including those who have served as NCSC staff.
Thank you, Madam President.
Ends/Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Issued at HKT 13:57
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