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Following is a question by the Hon Cyd Ho and a written reply by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, in the Legislative Council today (January 23):
Question:
It has been reported that during his election campaign, the Chief Executive (CE) has showed support for enacting the archives law and the freedom of information law as well as indicated that the relevant specific details would have to be examined. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities have commenced the study on the enactment of the archives law and the freedom of information law; if they have not, of the reasons for that and when the study will commence; if they have, of the specific scope and progress of the study, the legislative timetable and the plans concerned;
(b) of the respective numbers of government records (i) appraised by the Government Records Service (GRS) upon request, (ii) transferred to GRS for further appraisal, (iii) transferred to GRS for retention and (iv) destroyed with the consent of the GRS Director, by various policy bureaux and government departments in each of the two periods from March 25 to June 30, 2012 and from July 1 to December 31, 2012;
(c) apart from issuing General Circular No. 2/2009 "Mandatory Records Management Requirements" to implement a number of mandatory requirements for records management, whether the authorities had put in place any specific measure to ensure that, during the change of term of government, various policy bureaux and government departments would retain all government records and transfer them to the next-term Government or to GRS for management, and that they would not destroy any government record without the consent of the GRS Director;
(d) whether the authorities will consider transferring expeditiously records of those closed cases that involved important government policies to GRS for retention and for access by the public; if they will not, of the reasons for that; and
(e) given that it was mentioned in the Director of Audit's Report No. 59 that, regarding the two salient requirements on direct land grants made at nil or nominal premium in the past for private hospital development, the authorities had been unable to trace in the old records the reasons why those requirements had not been strictly and consistently included in the land grant documents concerned when the decisions on such land grants were made, whether the authorities will consider reviewing the existing practices in creating files and records, in order to ensure that important policy decisions made by the Government and the justifications concerned are put on record; if they will, of the specific scope and progress of the review as well as the plans concerned; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government fully recognises that records are valuable resources of the Government to support evidence-based decision making and meet operational and regulatory requirements, and are essential for an open and accountable government. The Government is also committed to identifying and preserving government records having archival value so as to enhance public awareness of Hong Kong's documentary heritage.
My reply to the question raised by Hon Cyd Ho Sau-lan is as follows:
(a) Administrative measures are being adopted to regulate records management within the Government. The Government Records Service (GRS) is tasked with overseeing the overall management of government records, and ensuring that government records are properly managed and those with archival value are selected for preservation and public access. Despite there being no dedicated archival legislation in Hong Kong, the essential general principles of records management have in fact been implemented in Hong Kong through administrative measures. These principles include promulgation of recordkeeping standards; designation of obligations and responsibilities of government bodies relating to keeping, maintaining and protecting public records; destruction of records to be subject to prior authorisation of archival authority; setting out responsibility for safe custody and conservation of archival materials; and provision for public access to public records. The Government will continue to keep the current administrative arrangements for records management under review and improve on them where appropriate.
At present, members of the public who want to obtain information held by the Government can make requests to relevant bureaux or departments under the Code on Access to Information (the Code). Since the introduction of the Code in 1995, about 98 per cent of the requests for information held by the bureaux or departments concerned were met in full or in part. The current arrangement also provides for a review mechanism, which is further underpinned by a complaint channel through The Ombudsman. In 2009, The Ombudsman examined the administration of the Code and put forth 11 recommendations for improvement. These recommendations have all been implemented, except for one public body which will soon put in place its access to information policy. The Administration is of the view that the Code has provided an effective mechanism for the public to access information held by the Government and that the system operates well.
The Government will continue with its best endeavours to identify room for improvement, with a view to enhancing public access to information and effective government records management. On January 4, 2013, The Ombudsman announced the decision to initiate a direct investigation into the access to information regime and the Government's records management system in Hong Kong so as to determine whether the public's right to access information in Hong Kong is adequately provided for and whether the measures taken are in keeping with modern standards of open and good administration. The Ombudsman will also compare the Government's records management system with those in other jurisdictions, so as to find out whether there are systemic inadequacies in Hong Kong and how these inadequacies affect the public's access to information. Furthermore, the Secretary for Justice said that the Law Reform Commission would establish two sub-committees to consider the topics of access to information and archives law. The sub-committees will conduct detailed reviews of Hong Kong's current situation, as well as embark upon a comprehensive comparative study of the relevant laws in overseas jurisdictions, with a view to making appropriate recommendations on possible options for reform if need be. It will also take into account the result of The Ombudsman's investigation before making the final recommendations. The Government will render co-operation in connection with the above investigation and studies, and will carefully consider how the prevailing arrangements could be further improved having regard to the findings of these investigation and studies.
(b) The respective numbers/quantity of government records (i) appraised by GRS upon request, (ii) transferred to GRS for further appraisal, (iii) transferred to GRS for retention and (iv) destroyed with the consent of the GRS Director, in respect of various bureaux and departments (B/Ds) in each of the two periods from March 25 to June 30, 2012 and from July 1 to December 31, 2012 are as follows:
Period Number of Number of Number of Quantity
records records records of records
appraised transferred transferred destroyed
by GRS to GRS for to GRS for with the
upon further retention consent of
request# appraisal (iii) the GRS
(i) (ii) Director*
(iv)
March 25 60 445 493 5 054 9 738.63
-June 30, linear
2012 metres
July 1 3 926 620 3 133 16 450 23 189.31
-December linear
31, 2012 metres
# These figures include records already appraised and records pending appraisal.
* Regarding destruction of records, GRS only collects information about the total quantity in linear metres.
The respective numbers/quantity of records listed above fluctuate from year to year, mainly depending on the nature and number of records to be disposed of by B/Ds. Further, the four set of figures cannot be compared directly because they do not refer to exactly the same records. For example, the 493 records transferred to GRS for further appraisal and the 5 054 records transferred to GRS for retention in the period from March 25 to June 30, 2012 included those records already appraised before March 25, 2012. Regarding the number of records appraised by GRS upon request, the number of records for the period from July 1 to December 31, 2012 includes a few appraisal requests of two departments involving a large amount of records, which are mainly copies of some other records.
(c) Responsibilities for proper management of government records are shared between B/Ds that create and collect the records, and GRS, which is tasked to oversee the management of archival records and government records on a government-wide basis. GRS has promulgated records management procedures and guidelines to ensure proper management of government records. Regardless of whether there is a change of government or under normal circumstances, B/Ds should manage their records in accordance with General Circular No. 2/2009 "Mandatory Records Management Requirements" (the Requirements) issued by the Administration Wing and other promulgated records management procedures and guidelines. According to the Requirements, any inactive or closed records can only be destroyed after the GRS Director has assessed that the records have no retention value and has given approval for their destruction. Records appraised by GRS as having archival value will be transferred to GRS for permanent retention if they have no further operational needs. The Requirements apply to all government servants. Disciplinary proceedings may be taken against a government servant if he disobeys, neglects or fails to observe the Requirements.
(d) Records are created and collected by B/Ds to meet their operational, policy, legal and financial purposes. To ensure systematic planning and orderly implementation of records disposal after records have been kept for the appropriate duration, B/Ds are required to adopt records disposal schedules developed by GRS to dispose of their administrative records. For programme records, B/Ds are required to develop, in consultation with GRS, disposal schedules which stipulate the length of time that records should be retained and the ways of disposal including transfer of records having archival value to GRS for permanent retention. GRS will conduct records appraisal and identify records having archival value at the time when disposal schedules are established or at the end of the records retention period. To strengthen the arrangements in this regard, the mandatory records management requirements require that B/Ds should transfer their records with archival value to GRS according to the respective disposal schedules and for public access according to the prevailing access rules. Regarding government records currently kept by B/Ds, members of public can access them under the Code.
(e) Concerning the audit report on land grants for private hospital development, the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) has provided documentary records on the relevant major decisions at the request of the Public Accounts Committee of the Legislative Council. Furthermore, FHB has been creating files and records in accordance with the guidelines issued by GRS to ensure that the Government's major policy decisions and related deliberations are properly documented.
The Government has already promulgated a number of publications and circulars in relation to records management with a view to assisting B/Ds to properly manage their own records. To provide more support and guidance, the Administration Wing has issued further guidelines on creation and collection of records in July 2012. The guidelines aim to help B/Ds create and collect complete, reliable and adequate records to serve as evidence of business transactions by establishing business rules or conducting self assessment on creation and collection of records.
Ends/Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Issued at HKT 13:10
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