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The following is the speech (translation) by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, in introducing the Government Minute responding to Reports No. 51A and 52 of the Public Accounts Committee in Legislative Council today (October 21):
President,
Laid on the table today is the Government Minutes ("GM") responding to Reports No. 51A and 52 of the Public Accounts Committee ("PAC").
When presenting Reports No. 51A and 52 on May 20 and July 8 respectively, the Chairman of the PAC set out the comments of the PAC on the four chapters from the Director of Audit's Reports, viz. emergency ambulance service, Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) and Quality Education Fund (QEF). The Administration is grateful for the time and efforts the PAC has devoted. Details of the Government's response to the conclusions and recommendations in the Reports are set out in the GM. Today, I would like to highlight the key measures we have taken in the relevant areas.
Emergency ambulance service
The Government is committed to providing effective, reliable and efficient emergency ambulance service for persons in need. We welcome and accept all the recommendations of the PAC and have been duly following up with them.
We have reviewed the performance of the emergency ambulance service and introduced a number of measures to improve the ambulance response time performance. To ensure that the performance target is achieved in all Divisions, the Fire Services Department ("FSD") has redeployed resources, increased frontline manpower, and allocated new ambulance shifts to locations in greatest demand. In particular, deployment points in the New Territories Region have been increased to enhance ambulance coverage and to improve the response time performance for the area.
To enhance the emergency ambulance service in the long run, the Administration has proposed a Medical Priority Dispatch System. By categorising and prioritising response to emergency ambulance calls in accordance with the degree of urgency, the proposal would allow the FSD to respond more quickly to people in greatest need. We are conducting public consultation to collect views on the proposal.
We agree with the PAC that there is a need to improve the reliability of ambulance service. To this end, the FSD and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department have taken a series of improvement measures, including increasing the frequency of preventive maintenance, advancing the replacement of vulnerable parts of the ambulances for the entire fleet, establishing a monitoring mechanism to tackle premature failure, extending the service hours of workshops, and setting up quick repair workshops at strategic locations.
The Administration is in the process of replacing 196 ambulances. The new ambulances are expected to be commissioned into service by batches before the end of next year. These new ambulances will lower the average age of the entire ambulance fleet to less than two years. Furthermore, we will streamline the procedures for procuring new ambulances. We are also working out a replacement mechanism to facilitate a steady and timely ambulance replacement programme in future.
We agree with the PAC that there is a need for the FSD to enhance its internal information and resource management. The Efficiency Unit (EU) will assist the FSD in identifying possible areas for improvement in this respect. In addition, the FSD has strengthened the collection of information on the maintenance and availability of ambulances to facilitate effective fleet management. The FSD is also exploring the feasibility of establishing an information system to provide more timely and detailed information on the breakdown and maintenance of individual ambulances.
The FSD will continue to step up education and publicity to encourage the proper use of emergency ambulance service. It will continue to collaborate with the relevant organisations, including the Hospital Authority, the Auxiliary Medical Service and the Hong Kong St. John Ambulance, to enhance public awareness on the proper use of emergency ambulance service.
Equal Opportunities Commission
The EOC plays an important role in promoting and enforcing anti-discrimination legislation in Hong Kong. The Administration and the EOC accept all the recommendations of the PAC and are committed to improving the administration and the corporate governance of the EOC. The EOC Board has set up a working group to review the relevant procedures and implement measures to follow up on the PAC recommendations.
The Administration has reviewed the separation of the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer posts of the EOC. The Legislative Council Panel on Constitutional Affairs and the EOC have been consulted and their views have been taken into account. We consider that retaining the full-time Chairperson position and delineating part of the Chairperson's functions to a new post of Chief Operations Officer (COO) is the best option. The COO will oversee the administrative and operational matters of the EOC, with a view to strengthening its governance.
The EOC has adopted measures to improve its members' attendance rates at Board and committee meetings and decided to publicise the attendance records of its Board and committee meetings in its Annual Reports starting from 2009/10.
Regarding the life insurance coverage for the Chairperson, the Audit Commission recommended the EOC to seek explicit approval from the Administration. The PAC also requested the EOC and the Administration to promptly decide on how to settle the matter. Currently, the Chairperson is included in the group life insurance scheme for EOC staff. The EOC Board considered that it is common for statutory bodies and the private sector to provide life insurance coverage for senior staff and hence recommended that retrospective approval be granted for the provision of such benefit to the incumbent and former Chairpersons. We decided to accept the recommendation and reminded the EOC to ensure that such administrative oversight should not recur in future.
The EOC agrees with the PAC's view that it should adhere to the "moderate and conservative" principle in the use of public funds and has adopted this principle in implementing various improvement measures. For example, the EOC guidelines on duty visits have been revised to prescribe maximum limits on hotel accommodation, hospitality expenses and meal expenses for the Chairperson and EOC Board Members. Drawing reference from the practices of the Government, the EOC has also tightened up its internal guidelines relating to procurement and management of stores and disposal of surplus assets to ensure prudent use of public money.
To enable the public to better measure the performance of the EOC, the Administration has worked with the EOC to identify new performance targets and indicators, including the percentage of complaints settled through conciliation, the average time taken to reach a conciliation and the percentage of participants satisfied with the EOC's training service and community programmes. The new targets and indicators will be included in the next Controlling Officer's Report.
The EOC is making preparations for engaging an external auditor to ensure that the recommendations of the PAC are implemented and regularised as part of the governance and administrative arrangements of the EOC. We will continue to work with the EOC to strengthen its corporate governance.
Hong Kong Arts Development Council
The HKADC plays an important role in the planning, promotion and support of arts development in Hong Kong. We note the concerns of the PAC on the role and functions of the HKADC in the West Kowloon Cultural District ("WKCD") project. Arts and cultural policy covers a wide range of areas. The Home Affairs Bureau ("HAB") will continue to act as a coordinator to ensure that the HKADC and other arts and culture stakeholders can promote at different levels the overall development of arts and culture in Hong Kong and the WKCD project.
The Administration and the HKADC noted the PAC's concern over the governance of the HKADC. In planning for the 2010 nomination exercise for the HKADC, the HAB will take into account the recommendations of PAC to lengthen the period for the registration of members of the nominating bodies, step up voter registration efforts and publicity to enhance the arts and culture community's understanding of and participation in the nomination process.
The HKADC is planning to set up an audit and compliance committee in mid-2010 to oversee and strengthen its governance and compliance. To ensure better attendance at Council and committee meetings, the HKADC has drawn members' attention to their attendance rates and the importance of their participation in meetings. The HKADC will strengthen understanding of members, especially new members, on corporate governance principles through seminars and orientations.
The administration of grants and proactive projects is a major responsibility area of the HKADC. In view of the recommendations of the PAC, the HKADC has taken measures to improve the procedures on appointment of examiners and project assessment. It has stepped up the assessment of examiners' performance and tightened up the monitoring procedures to ensure that application adjudications and project assessments are completed on time. Furthermore, the HKADC has strengthened monitoring of examiners' declaration of interest. Appointments could be withdrawn by the HKADC for examiners who failed to comply with the appointment requirements, such as the timely submission or updating of declarations of interests.
The Quality Education Fund
Since its establishment in 1998, the QEF has funded many outstanding projects and made significant contributions to consistently improving the quality of education in Hong Kong. The Administration and the QEF accept and have promptly followed up on all the recommendations of the PAC, which focused on governance and project management of the QEF.
The QEF agrees with the PAC that the effectiveness of projects in achieving their objectives should be the main focus of the QEF. Various improvements to the assessment and monitoring mechanisms have been implemented or planned by the QEF along this direction.
Having considered the need to make prudent use of public money and to avoid unnecessary workload for applicants, the QEF has appropriately raised the funding ceilings of small- and medium-scale applications, thus extending the simplified application procedures to more projects. Furthermore, the QEF has streamlined the reporting procedures in respect of small-scale projects with low risk. Submission of progress reports by the relevant grantees has been relaxed from once every 6 months to once every 12 months.
As regards the governance and strategic management of the QEF, committees and sub-committees under the QEF have adopted a two-tier reporting system in order to enhance transparency of the committees' operation and to handle potential conflicts of interest.
The main purpose for commercialising QEF project deliverables is to enable more people to benefit from them through wider dissemination and at reasonable and affordable charges to schools. Since the introduction of commercialisation, the QEF has priced deliverables having regard to the affordability of prospective clients and the "break-even" principle. In response to the PAC's recommendations, the QEF has asked applicants to include in their proposals the dissemination mechanism for their project deliverables and requested grantees to adopt the "break-even" principle in determining prices. The relevant information will be included in the agreement between the QEF and the grantees.
The Administration appreciates the value-for-money audits by the Audit Commission on subvented organisations and the PAC's recommendations on areas for improvement in the systems, processes and practices of governance in these organisations. The public have high expectations of the subvented organisations not only in the standards of services they deliver, but also in their management and proper use of public money. To this end, we have promulgated guidelines, signed memoranda of administrative arrangements and facilitated experience-sharing. The EU is now working jointly with the relevant bureaux to develop a Practical Guide to Corporate Governance for Subvented Organisations. The Guide aims to consolidate standing requirements for corporate governance and illustrate best practices for reference by subvented organisations. Our target is to promulgate the Guide by the end of this financial year.
Finally, I would like to thank the PAC for its constructive comments and recommendations. These comments and recommendations are useful in ensuring value for money in the delivery of public services by the Administration and relevant public organisations. The Administration is pleased to accept them. As always, we stand ready to respond promptly. Thank you.
Ends/Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Issued at HKT 14:53
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