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Following is a question by the Hon Ho Sau-lan and a reply by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, in the Legislative Council today (March 27):
Question:
As revealed in Chapter 10 of the Director of Audit's Report No. 57 which reports on the audit review of the records management work of the Government Records Service ("GRS"), the Independent Commission Against Corruption ("ICAC") has established its own records management policy and procedures having regard to the Government's practices, relevant statutory requirements and ICAC's unique operational need, and has its own approving authority for records disposal schedules and records destruction procedures. However, some members of the public have pointed out that as anti-corruption work and the establishment of ICAC have become a part of Hong Kong's history in which Hong Kong takes pride among the Chinese communities, ICAC's records are of great historical value. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of records relating to the establishment of ICAC created by the authorities before the establishment of ICAC on February 15, 1974, and the respective numbers of records created by ICAC in each of the two periods from its establishment to June 30, 1997 and from July 1, 1997 to January 31, 2013; the respective numbers of records appraised by GRS, transferred to GRS for retention, retained by ICAC and destroyed by ICAC in each of the three aforesaid periods; if no records have ever been handled by GRS, of the reasons for that;
(b) of ICAC's existing records management policies and procedures, and the grade and rank of its personnel responsible for approving records disposal schedules and records destruction; the records management training received by the relevant personnel and their academic qualifications; and
(c) whether ICAC's records management policies have included the element of preservation of history; if so, of the implementation measures and approach in this respect, as well as the procedures whereby the public may request access to records of closed cases and records that have been created over 30 years; whether ICAC has all along upheld confidentiality as the objective of its records management policy and regularly destroy the records concerned in order to achieve this objective?
Reply:
President,
The Administration attaches great importance to records management, and is committed to appraising and retaining government records of archival value. Subsequent to the publication of the Director of Audit's Report No. 57 ("the Report"), the Administration has implemented a series of measures as an active response to the recommendations of the Report.
As regards records management of the Independent Commission Against Corruption ("ICAC"), prior to the publication of the Report in end-2011, ICAC established its own records management policy and procedures, mainly by making reference to the Administration's practice of records management, and taking account of factors such as its actual operation, the need for confidentiality, requirements of relevant legislations (such as the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486)), and archival value of records. In response to the recommendations made in the Report, ICAC, upon seeking legal advice, affirmed that the mandatory records management requirements promulgated by the Administration through General Circular would be applicable to ICAC. Such requirements have been implemented in ICAC in an earnest manner since end-2011.
My reply to the question raised by Hon Ho Sau-lan is as follows -
(a) ICAC currently maintains around 130 records relating to its establishment. Since its inception up to end-January 2013, ICAC has created a total of around 240 000 records. As ICAC has only introduced the Bar-coding File Management System in phases since 1998 for management of records, the exact figures for the periods specified in the question are not available. Since its inception up to end-2011, ICAC destroyed around 78 000 records according to its own records management policy and procedures. Among the destroyed records, around 51 000 were programme records of closed cases, while the remaining were mainly administrative records which were beyond their retention period and without operational needs or archival value. ICAC has implemented the mandatory records management requirements since end-2011, which include obtaining prior agreement of the Government Records Service Director ("GRSD") before destroying any records. In accordance with the aforementioned requirements, ICAC applied to the GRSD for the destruction of 52 administrative records in 2012. Such records were not transferred to Government Records Service ("GRS") for permanent retention as GRS had confirmed that the records had no archival value. As at end-January 2013, ICAC maintained a total of around 162 000 records.
(b) As mentioned in the preamble, ICAC has, having regard to the Administration's practices, established its own records management policy and procedures to ensure proper management of its records. In response to the recommendations made in the Report, ICAC, upon seeking legal advice, affirmed in end-2011 that the mandatory records management requirements promulgated by the Administration were applicable to ICAC and has implemented such requirements in an earnest manner. Since then, the records management requirements applicable to ICAC are of no difference from those applicable to other bureaux/departments. Generally speaking, the mandatory requirements to be followed include the following -
(a) inform GRS of any replacement of its Departmental Records Manager ("DRM");
(b) prepare and maintain an accurate records inventory;
(c) print-and-file e-mail records;
(d) ensure that any new records classification scheme is approved by the DRM;
(e) adopt the standard classification scheme designed by GRS for all administrative records not later than April 2012;
(f) review the records classification schemes every two to three years;
(g) establish draft disposal schedules covering all existing programme records not later than April 2012;
(h) transfer records with archival value to GRS according to the respective disposal schedules;
(i) dispose of time-expired records at least once every two years, with such disposal of records considered and endorsed in writing by a senior officer;
(j) obtain prior agreement of the GRSD before destroying any records;
(k) ensure that the records disposal process is properly supervised;
(l) put in place arrangements as appropriate to ensure proper custody and storage of records, and investigate cases of any loss of or unauthorised destruction of records; and
(m) draw up an action plan not later than April 2012 to identify and protect vital records.
Since ICAC is required to handle a substantial amount of confidential and sensitive information, two management staff members at the rank of Senior Commission Against Corruption Officer are currently appointed as ICAC's DRMs. Commission Against Corruption Officers or Executive Officers in ICAC's various departments are appointed as assistant DRMs. ICAC also requires that all disposal proposals on ICAC records should be subject to the approval of an officer at the rank of Assistant Director or above to ensure that records are properly managed and, in compliance with the mandatory records management requirements promulgated by the Government, prior agreement of the GRSD must be sought if any records are to be destroyed. In addition, members of the Clerical Officer Grade in file registries/confidential registries of various departments also provide support for records management.
Most of the ICAC officers responsible for records management have taken the training courses offered by GRS. Such courses cover areas such as creation, classification, storage, protection and disposal of records. Moreover, ICAC conducts relevant in-house training for its civilian staff to enhance experience sharing and exchange of views.
(c) In the past, ICAC established its own records management policy and procedures by making reference to the Administration's practice of records management, and taking account of factors such as its actual operation, the need for confidentiality, requirements of relevant legislations and archival value of records. In end-2011, the mandatory records management requirements promulgated by the Administration became applicable to ICAC. One of the requirements pertains to the submission of draft retention and disposal schedules to be developed with reference to the administrative, operational, fiscal and legal requirements, as well as the archival value of records, for GRS' consideration. ICAC will then decide how to handle its records in accordance with the disposal schedules approved by GRS.
Members of the public may apply to ICAC for accessing its records according to the Code on Access to Information. ICAC will, in accordance with GRS' requirements and guidelines, transfer records with archival value to GRS for permanent retention upon the latter's appraisal. These archival records will be open to public access in accordance with the Public Records (Access) Rules 1996.
Thank you, President.
Ends/Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:31
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