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    Following is a question by the Hon Emily Lau and a reply by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Professor Arthur K C Li, in the Legislative Council today (June 8):

Question:

    It has been reported that following an amendment to its statutes by the Council of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University ("HKPU") in April this year, staff who cannot work full-time in the HKPU for reason that they have taken up public offices will be regarded as part-time staff and will no longer be eligible to stand for membership of the Council. Nevertheless, staff will not be disqualified from standing for elections on grounds of taking up paid employment with private companies. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a) of the public-funded tertiary institutions with similar provisions in their statutes, as well as those institutions whose governing bodies plan to incorporate similar provisions into their statutes;

(b) whether guidelines have been issued to advise the governing bodies of tertiary institutions that, in accordance with the principles of fairness and transparency, they should provide all staff with opportunities to participate in the management of the institutions and prevent any staff from being deprived of their right to participate for reason that they have taken up public offices; if such guidelines have been issued, whether the authorities will follow up the above decision of the Council of the HKPU; if such guidelines have not been issued, the reasons for that; and

(c) whether guidelines have been issued to advise tertiary institutions that they should ask their staff to declare their paid employment with private companies, and make such information public, so as to facilitate monitoring by members of the institutions and the public; if not, of the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

    In answering this question, I would like to first clarify that the amendment approved by the Council of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in April this year is in respect of the University's policy guidelines regarding full-time staff engaging in remunerated public offices. The guideline is an internal administrative document drawn up by the University; and the revision approved by the PolyU Council aims at clarifying the University's established policy that only full-time employees are eligible for election or appointment to the Council. Such revision, however, does not involve any amendment to the Statutes made by the PolyU Council under The Hong Kong Polytechnic Ordinance.

(a) The University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded institutions and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts are autonomous bodies governed by their own legislation. The compositions of the institutions' Councils are set out precisely in their respective governing ordinances. The institutions can appoint staff members to their Councils, and draw up eligibility criteria and election procedures for this purpose, in accordance with the relevant legislation.

    At present, the governing legislation of all the above institutions except one stipulates that staff members should be full-time employees to be eligible for appointment to the Councils.

    The institutions are aware of the important role their staff members play in public affairs, and are willing to facilitate their service in public offices. However, they also need to ensure that their employees have the time to perform their normal duties. To make it clear whether individual staff members are able to provide full-time services to the institution, the institutions would draw up definitions of "full-time" employees.

(b) Subject to the legal requirements, post-secondary institutions can decide for themselves how to provide its staff with opportunities to participate in the management of the institutions in accordance with the principles of fairness and transparency. These are internal matters for the institutions. The Administration fully respects the institutions' autonomy, and will not seek to interfere. Nor have we issued specific guidelines for this purpose.

(c) It is common for post-secondary institutions to have in place clear mechanisms to monitor staff taking up paid employment with private companies. They will, for instance, require staff members concerned to seek prior approval, or to declare their interest to the institutions.

    As the institutions would put in place appropriate mechanisms to regulate the participation of staff in outside work in accordance with their operational needs, we do not consider it necessary for the Administration to introduce further guidelines.

Ends/Wednesday, June 8, 2005

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