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The following press release is issued on behalf of the Committee on Review of Post-service Outside Work for Directorate Civil Servants:
The Committee on Review of Post-service Outside Work for Directorate Civil Servants (Review Committee) submitted its report on the review of the current control regime to the Chief Executive today (July 10). The Chief Executive has asked the Review Committee to make public the report.
Speaking at a press conference to announce the report, the Chairman of the Review Committee, Mr Ronald Arculli said, "this subject involves protection of the public interest and protection of an individual's right to work."
In February 2009, the Review Committee published a consultation document and conducted a two-month public consultation to gather the views of the public and stakeholders, including organising three public forums and various briefings. Since its set up in September 2008, the Review Committee has held 24 meetings to examine the control regime, study overseas practices and deliberate on various views.
"After extensive and frank discussion among Members, the Review Committee has made a total of 23 recommendations, covering different aspects of the control regime. Nineteen out of 23 recommendations were supported by the Review Committee unanimously and the remaining four by a majority, " he said.
"These recommendations aim to strengthen the existing control regime and to mitigate public suspicion or perception of impropriety in a directorate civil servant's post-service outside work. In particular, the Review Committee shares the view of most respondents to our public consultation that protection of the public interest should take precedence over protection of an individual's right," said Mr Arculli.
The 23 recommendations are set out below:
1. Protection of the public interest and protection
of an individual's right should continue to be
the two principles underlying the control regime,
with protection of the public interest taking
precedence over protection of an individual's
right.
2. The policy objective of the control regime should
be expanded to make specific references to
(a) avoiding suspicion or perception of 'deferred
reward'; and (b) making good use of limited human
resources.
3. Former directorate civil servants should not be
subject to a lifetime total ban on paid
post-service outside work. They should also not
be subject to a lifetime specific ban on
particular types of post-service employment.
4. No change should be made to the minimum
sanitisation period (namely 6 and 12 months for
junior (i.e. D1 to D3) and senior (i.e. D4 to D8)
directorate civil servants respectively), during
which post-service work in commercial organisations
will normally not be approved.
5. The length of the control period should be set at:
(a) two years for directorate civil servants at D1
to D3 (i.e. no change to the length of the
existing period); (b) three years for those at D4
to D7 (i.e. lengthening the existing period by
one year); and (c) five years for those at D8
(i.e. lengthening the existing period by two
years). During the control period, a directorate
civil servant is required to obtain prior approval
before taking up post-service outside work.
6. The length of the control period should not be
determined by specified fields of work during
government service.
7. The length of the control period should not be
determined by post-service outside work in the
same field as a directorate civil servant's past
government duties.
8. More information should be provided by a
directorate civil servant when applying for
permission to take up post-service outside work.
The additional information includes:
(a) irrespective of whether or not an applicant
will be involved in the business of the parent
or related companies of the prospective employer,
he should be required to disclose his material
past contractual, legal, official and other
contacts/dealings (if any) with these entities
during his last three years of government service
if he is a directorate civil servant at D1 to D3,
and during his last six years of government
service if he is at D4 to D8; (b) an applicant
should be required to provide any other
information which he considers relevant to the
assessment of his application; and (c) the policy
objective and the assessment criteria should be
stated upfront on the application form so as to
remind an applicant of the factors that would be
taken into account in the assessment process.
9. All applications from directorate civil servants
at D4 to D8 should be assessed with reference to
their last six years of active government service.
10. The Advisory Committee on Post-service Employment
of Civil Servants (Advisory Committee) should
retain its advisory role.
11. The membership of the Advisory Committee should
be expanded to nine members (including the
chairman) with a broadened composition. Possible
categories of candidates for appointment on an
ad personam basis include (but not restricted to)
academics, representatives from civil service
groups, former directorate civil servants,
personalities from professional fields and/or
the business sector, as well as former or serving
members of the Executive Council, the Legislative
Council and the District Councils.
12. The Advisory Committee should be given the power
to invite outside expert(s) in the field(s)
relevant to a post-service outside work
application to give advice if necessary.
13. The Advisory Committee should draw up guidelines
on its mode of operation, which should provide for
the holding of meetings when appropriate or upon
request by its chairman or any of its members.
In addition, these guidelines should be made
known to the public and applicants.
14. The secretariat of the Advisory Committee should
be independent of the Civil Service Bureau.
Depending on workload, it may be a dedicated
secretariat, or it may be an existing independent
secretariat for advisory bodies on civil
service-related matters with an expanded ambit.
15. The imposition and enforcement of work
restrictions should be strengthened. For example,
the decision authority should directly inform the
prospective employer of the work restrictions
imposed on an applicant and of the requirement
for the latter to notify and to seek prior
approval from the decision authority if there is
any material change to the work. An applicant
who has taken up an approved post-service
outside work should be required, as part of the
approval conditions, to provide the decision
authority with a copy of the signed employment
agreement or appointment letter.
16. The decision authority (namely the Secretary for
the Civil Service) should set out the review and
appeal channels when notifying an applicant of
the decision on his application. The decision
authority should, as a standard practice, seek
the advice of the Advisory Committee again if
an applicant seeks a review of the decision.
17. The Administration should make a practicable
performance pledge on the processing time of
applications, having regard to the recommended
enhancement to the internal and external
assessment processes.
18. The integrity enhancement initiatives being
implemented by the Administration for the civil
service should give greater emphasis on the
importance of avoiding possible conflicts of
interest by directorate civil servants, in
particular the public concern over perception or
suspicion of 'deferred reward', both during
active government service and in the pursuit
of post-service outside work.
19. The Administration should conduct an 'exit
interview' with every departing directorate
civil servant, and devise guidelines on the
matters to be covered.
20. The suspension of monthly pension payments to
retired pensionable civil servants (directorate
and non-directorate) working on a full-time and
paid basis in the 16 specified subvented
organisations should be discontinued.
21. The public disclosure arrangement covering all
approved and taken-up post-service work by
directorate civil servants at D4 to D8 should
be extended to cover junior directorate civil
servants at D1 to D3 as well.
22. The Advisory Committee's advice on every approved
and taken-up post-service outside work should be
disclosed on the public register.
23. More information should be included in the
Advisory Committee's annual report, which is
submitted to the Chief Executive and made public.
The additional information includes but is not
limited to the categorisation of employers of
approved and taken up post-service outside work,
the cases on the public register on which the
Advisory Committee's advice and the final
decision of the authority differs, and the
guidelines on the mode of operation of the
Advisory Committee.
In addition to the 23 recommendations, the Review Committee has drawn the Chief Executive's attention to the views expressed on the post-office employment control of politically appointed officials. The Review Committee has not examined the rationale behind the post-office employment control regime of politically appointed officials because the matter is outside its terms of reference. It is therefore not in a position to provide a considered view on the matter. In view of the importance of the matter and given the public concern, the Review Committee urges the Chief Executive to carry out a separate review.
The Review Committee was appointed by the Chief Executive in September 2008 in response to public concern over post-service outside work control for directorate civil servants. It was tasked to review the existing policy and arrangements governing post-service outside work for directorate civil servants and submit its findings and recommendations to the Chief Executive in mid-2009.
Released today, the report can be viewed on the website of the Review Committee at (www.dcspostservice-review.org.hk). Copies are also available for collection at district offices and Civil Service Bureau.
Ends/Friday, July 10, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:15
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