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In response to media enquiries concerning the remuneration package for Under Secretaries and Political Assistants, a Government spokesman today (May 31) gave the following:
"The Government has disclosed the information about the remuneration package for Under Secretaries and Political Assistants, in accordance with the normal practice. In a funding application for the creation of and remuneration package for the positions of Under Secretaries and Political Assistants to the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council in December last year, the Administration has stated clearly the salary ranges for Under Secretaries (from $193,775 to $223,585 per month) and Political Assistants (from $104,340 to $163,963 per month), as well as the specified salary points.
The salary ranges for Under Secretaries and Political Assistants is public information. However, the actual salaries of individual appointees are personal data, and we cannot randomly disclose the information. There are some variations in the salaries for individual Under Secretaries and Political Assistants with reference to their working experience, qualifications and past remuneration levels. Unnecessary comparisons and personnel management problems could arise if the private data were to be disclosed.
The arrangement now is in line with the way the Administration deals with the civil service - the Government will not disclose the actual salaries of individual colleagues if there are different salary points within the same rank. This is also in line with the practices adopted by many large private institutions, government organisations and overseas governments.
However, after considering the views of some Legislative Council members, we will provide the information on the distribution of Under Secretaries and Political Assistants at each of the specified salary points (details at Annex).
On this issue, the Government has strived to disclose relevant information as far as possible in order to strike a good balance between safeguarding the above-mentioned principles and protecting the public's right to know. We also appeal to the public to show their understanding on the matter."
Ends/Saturday, May 31, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:57
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