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Following is a question by the Hon Albert Ho and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (March 25):
Question:
Since 2008, the Government has implemented measures to enhance the roles and functions of District Councils (DCs), including making arrangements for the heads of those departments with direct interface with the public to attend DC meetings, so as to strengthen the communication between the Government and DCs. In this regard, the Government issued an internal circular instructing 22 Heads of Departments (HoDs) to each attend at least one meeting of each DC within the current term (i.e. from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2015) of DCs. Besides, core departments are required to send representatives to attend DC meetings regularly and, at the beginning of each calendar/financial year, submit annual district plans for that year to District Management Committees (DMCs) and DCs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as at February this year, of the HoDs who have attended, and those who have yet to attend, DC meetings of the current DC term pursuant to the aforesaid circular (set out one by one by DC district); the reasons for HoDs' not attending DC meetings as instructed, and whether they have made arrangements for attending meetings of the DCs concerned before the end of the current DC term; if they have not, the reasons for that;
(2) as I have learnt that it is increasingly common for government departments not assigning their officers to attend the meetings of DCs or their committees, whether the authorities have assessed the reasons for that, and whether one of the reasons is that "the departments concerned have not attached sufficient importance to the communication with DCs"; if this is one of the reasons, of the authorities' improvement measures; and
(3) of those core departments which have not yet submitted annual district plans to DMCs and DCs pursuant to the aforesaid circular since the commencement of the current DC term and the reasons for that, and whether such departments will expeditiously submit such documents to the DMCs and DCs concerned?
Reply:
President,
District Councils (DCs) are the Government's crucial partners in implementing the District Administration Scheme. The Government attaches great importance to its communication and interaction with DCs and their members. My reply to the three parts of the question is as follows:
(1) The Heads of the Departments (HoDs) that provide direct services to the public will, depending on respective DC agendas and schedules, visit the 18 DCs in each DC term to listen personally to the views of DC members as far as practicable. As in February 2015, these HoDs have attended 312 DC meetings. We will continue to arrange for the HoDs to attend the remaining DC meetings within the remainder of the current DC term as far as practicable. Relevant information is at Annex.
(2) Representatives of core departments attend meetings of DCs and their committees regularly to report on the progress of their work and answer questions raised by DC members.
Apart from arranging attendance of HoDs at DC meetings, policy bureaux and departments consult DCs from time to time on proposals and programmes that will have district-wise or territory-wide implications by sending representatives to attend such meetings.
In addition to core departments, DCs and their committees may invite representatives of other Government bureaux or departments to attend their meetings. Depending on respective DC agendas and schedules, relevant bureaux and departments will arrange appropriate representatives to attend the meetings as far as practicable. In case they are not able to attend, written replies in response to questions raised will be provided to DCs or their committees, or follow-up actions will be taken as appropriate.
(3) All core departments report to District Management Committees (DMCs) regularly on district initiatives. DMCs collate matters discussed at their meetings, related work plans and progress, and report to their respective DCs and consolidate the views collected.
Ends/Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Issued at HKT 15:00
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