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Following is a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-hing and a reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Miss Denise Yue, in the Legislative Council today (June 2):
Question:
According to the Government's replies to the questions I raised in respect of the Budget of this year, the number of agency workers used by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and that of its Non-Civil Service Contract (NCSC) staff as at February 28, 2010 are equivalent to 3% and 16% respectively of LCSD's total manpower, and there are even 10,100 staff employed under outsourced service contracts (staff of outsourced service). The total number of the above three types of non-civil service staff is much greater than the 8,060 posts on the permanent establishment of LCSD. Some members of the public have relayed to me that the situation of using non-civil service staff to provide services in LCSD is very serious, arousing grave concern that the Government may implement "engagement of non-civil service staff to provide services" and "de-employment" further. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of agency workers and staff of outsourced services used by LCSD as well as its number of NCSC staff in the past five years; the percentages of the total manpower of LCSD these figures represented, as well as the number of posts in non-permanent establishment which had been converted to permanent establishment in LCSD during that period;
(b) whether LCSD will, in outsourcing services and procuring the manpower services of employment agencies, give priority to bidders offering the highest wage levels to employees; and in considering whether the bidders are offering reasonable wages to their employees, whether LCSD will make reference to the pay levels of the relevant civil service posts and request the bidders to offer pay at the same levels; and of the monitoring mechanism put in place by LCSD to ensure that the companies which have been awarded the contracts will not reduce their employees' wages and benefits throughout the whole period of the contracts; and
(c) whether it will consider setting a cap on the percentage, which the number of non-civil service staff represents in the total number of staff in a government department, as well as requiring the department to review its manpower need immediately when the percentage exceeds the cap, and convert posts which require the service of non-civil service staff on a long-term basis into civil service posts on the permanent establishment, so as to curb the trends of "different pay for the same job" among government staff, "de-employment" and "engagement of non-civil service staff to provide services"; if not, of the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The question raised by the Hon Wong Kwok-hing touches on the manpower deployment in government departments. I would like to explain briefly some relevant guiding principles before answering the question.
The Government is committed to providing quality services to the public. At the same time, we maintain a lean and efficient civil service in line with the principles of "Big Market, Small Government" and prudent management of public resources. Accordingly, Heads of Departments (HoDs) have to determine which type of manpower to be deployed in delivering various public services having regard to the operational needs and the nature of the services.
Generally speaking, for law enforcement-related duties and services which should be delivered by government departments direct, HoDs should deploy civil servants to meet such service needs. For those public services which are time-limited or seasonal in nature, or where the modes of delivery are under review or likely to be changed, HoDs may employ Non-Civil Service Contract (NCSC) staff to meet the service needs. For short-term service needs which are urgent or unforeseen or experience an unexpected surge, the HoDs may consider using agency workers. As regards those public services which may be provided by the private sector, departments may outsource the services.
Regarding the first part of the question, the number of full-time NCSC staff engaged by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and the proportion of NCSC staff to the total manpower of the Department in the past five years are at Annex I.
The Civil Service Bureau (CSB) conducted a review jointly with bureaux/departments (B/Ds) on their employment of NCSC staff in 2006. The review identified some 800 NCSC positions in LCSD involving work that should more appropriately be performed by civil servants. Some 700 NCSC positions are now filled by civil servants and the majority of the remaining positions will be replaced by civil service posts gradually within this financial year upon expiry of the contracts of the concerned NCSC staff.
LCSD does not centrally keep complete records of information on the use of agency workers. According to an ad hoc survey conducted by CSB in the third quarter of 2009, as at September 30, 2009, LCSD used a total of 299 agency workers, who were mainly engaged to assist in meeting short-term service demands, including offering assistance in the organisation of short-term leisure and cultural programmes/projects and providing stage management and technical support services in performance venues, etc. LCSD has also engaged employment agencies in supplying some of the manpower needed in the provision of public library service mainly during the peak demand periods. LCSD is currently reviewing the mode of delivering library services, including the use of agency workers. As the number of agency workers varies from time to time and their work hours may not be fixed, it is not appropriate to compare the number of agency workers with the size of the total manpower of the Department.
The services outsourced by LCSD mainly cover cleansing services, security services, horticultural maintenance services, sports centre and other venue management, etc. The numbers of staff employed by contractors for delivering the above outsourced services in the past five years are at Annex II. As the outsourced services do not necessarily have to be delivered by full-time personnel, the number of staff employed by contractors includes both full-time and part-time personnel. It is therefore not appropriate to compare the number of staff employed by contractors with the total manpower of the Department.
Regarding the second part of the question, LCSD, in procuring the services of employment agencies to supply manpower and in outsourcing services, abides by the Stores and Procurement Regulations and relevant Financial Circulars. The procurement of such services is subject to the Government's procurement principles of value for money, transparency, open and fair competition and accountability.
The Government is very concerned about the wage level of non-skilled workers. Since May 2004, for all Government service contracts, service providers are required to pay their non-skilled workers monthly wages no less than the average monthly wages for the relevant industry/occupation as published in the latest Census and Statistics Department's Quarterly Report of Wage and Payroll Statistics at the time when tenders are invited. LCSD has already implemented such a requirement. LCSD has also adopted various measures to strengthen the protection of the rights of non-skilled workers employed by contractors of outsourced services. Details are at Annex III.
Separately, the Administration issued guidelines to B/Ds in April this year promulgating a set of new measures on the use of agency workers. Amongst others, there is a requirement for employment agencies to pay, for the whole duration of the concerned service contract, their agency workers (other than non-skilled agency workers) assigned to work in the procuring departments wages not less than the average monthly salary of miscellaneous non-production workers in all selected industries published in the latest Census and Statistics Department's Quarterly Report of Wage and Payroll Statistics at the time when tenders are invited.
To monitor compliance with the above new requirement, LCSD will specify in the contracts that the employment agencies shall sign written contracts with their employees, setting out in details the terms of employment and the wage level, and shall submit copies of the contracts to the Department for checking purpose. LCSD may, where necessary, inspect the relevant records of employment and wage payments or interview the agency workers to ensure that their rights are protected. If any employment agency is found in breach of the above wage requirement, the Department may, in accordance with the provisions of the contract, terminate the contract signed with the agency immediately.
Regarding part (c) of the question, I have already explained in the preamble that departments may deploy different types of manpower to deliver services of various nature and to address different operational needs. Hence, we will not impose a cap on the ratio of the number of non-civil service manpower to the total manpower of a department. Each B/D will review its operational needs and manpower situation from time to time, including whether the demand for manpower resources can be reduced through re-engineering, productivity enhancement through computerisation, etc.; whether the services provided by NCSC staff or agency workers should be carried out by civil servants; and whether some public services may be outsourced to the private sector, etc.
Thank you, President.
Ends/Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:12
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