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Following is a question by the Hon Leung Kwok-hung and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (December 3):
Question:
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) told me that, owing to an insufficient number of Workman II (WMII) in FEHD, the cleansing services for Clear Water Bay Peninsula, Tseng Lan Shue and Kowloon Peak in Sai Kung District had been outsourced to cleansing contractors starting from September this year. There have been comments that the freeze on recruitment of WMII by FEHD will make the department unable to cope with an epidemic outbreak (such as the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003), or a sudden surge in service demand upon termination of outsourced cleansing contracts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) why FEHD has not employed sufficient WMII to provide cleansing services in the above areas;
(b) given that despite the Government's recruitment freeze on the civil service in recent years, a department may apply for exemption if there are operational needs, whether FEHD has made such an application; if not, of the reasons for that;
(c) of the total current number of WMII employed by all government departments, together with a breakdown by department;
(d) of the current number of WMII working in FEHD, together with a breakdown by reason (such as retirement and transfer of job) of the change in such numbers over the past three years; and
(e) of the current ratio between WMII working in FEHD and cleansing workers employed by outsourced service contractors, and whether it will set the relevant target ratio?
Reply:
President,
It is Government's established policy that the private sector should participate in the delivery of public services as far as practicable. To fully utilise the expertise, innovation and agility of the private sector in providing more and better service, bureaux and departments (B/D) will keep under regular review the mode of delivery of services. When it is established that the service could not be contracted out to a private service provider or must be handled by civil servants, civil servants are engaged to meet such needs.
Our reply to the five-part question raised by Hon Leung Kwok-hung is as follows:
(a) Pursuant to the above government policy, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) reviews the provision of its services, including cleansing services, from time to time, and where appropriate, outsource the relevant services to private contractors. Provision of street cleansing services for villages and roads along Clear Water Bay in Sai Kung by private contractors is considered feasible after a review of service nature and demand by the Department.
(b) During the period of overall open recruitment freeze and when the five-year open recruitment freeze imposed on grades covered by the Second Voluntary Retirement Scheme, FEHD has, after reviewing its operational needs, made applications to the Panel co-chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration and the Financial Secretary with Secretary for the Civil Service as a member. With the approval, the Department carried out open recruitment to fill a total of 245 civil service posts, including Hygiene Inspector II, Scientific Officer (Medical), Pest Control Officer/Assistant Pest Control Officer, Pest Control Assistant II/Student Pest Control Assistant and Veterinary Officer during the period of recruitment freeze.
(c) According to information provided by Civil Service Bureau (CSB), as at September 30, 2008, a total of 6,956 Workman II (WMII) were employed by various government bureaux and departments. Details are at Annex I.
(d) As at September 30, 2008, a total of 3,233 WMII were employed by FEHD. Over the past three years, 545 WMII have left the Department due to various reasons including retirement and appointment to another grade. For details, please see Annex II.
(e) Of all the frontline staff providing cleansing services in public areas, 35% are WMII of FEHD, while 65% are staff of its outsourced service contractors. FEHD considers the existing mode of service delivery by engaging both departmental staff and employees of its service contractors has been working effectively. The Department considers that there is no need to lay down any rigid target ratio for contracting out. The deployment of and need for WMII in the department is being actively reviewed. Requirement, if any, will first be met through in-service recruitment. Where necessary, approval from the CSB for open recruitment will be sought in accordance with existing procedure to meet service needs.
Ends/Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:15
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