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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kenneth Chan and a reply by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, in the Legislative Council today (June 26):
Question:
In her earlier letter to the President of the Legislative Council, the Chief Secretary for Administration has indicated that the Chief Executive will deliver his next Policy Address in January next year, which will be followed by the Financial Secretary's Budget in late February or early March. Such an arrangement will be adhered to for the rest of this term of the Government. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that due to the close proximity of the dates for delivering the Policy Address and the Budget this year, the Government had jointly conducted the public consultation exercises for these two important policy papers last year, whether the Government will continue to adopt the same arrangement next year; if it will, of the justifications for that; whether the Government will take measures to ensure that the relevant consultation exercises will not place emphasis only on one of the two documents, and whether it will consider conducting separate consultation exercises for the two documents; if it will consider doing so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) as the dates for delivering the next Policy Address and the next Budget will be quite close, whether the Government has assessed, when the Government decides to make relatively substantial amendments to certain policies or measures in the light of the public's responses to the Policy Address, if the Financial Secretary will have sufficient time to revise the draft Budget in order to allocate public resources in tandem with the relevant amendments; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, how the Government can respond to the aspirations of the public in the Budget, and whether it will, for such reason, refuse to respond to the views or suggestions from the public on the Policy Address; and
(c) whether the Government will consider consulting the public and this Council on the dates for delivering the Policy Address and the Budget, so as to avoid jeopardising the relationship between the Executive Authorities and the Legislature; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Chief Executive has decided to deliver his next Policy Address on January 15, 2014, and that the Financial Secretary will announce the Budget for 2014-15 in the following month on February 26. As mentioned in my letter to you dated June 3, the Chief Executive will continue to deliver his Policy Address in January, followed by the Financial Secretary's Budget in late February/early March, for the rest of this term of Government.
The Policy Address serves to announce the key policy initiatives for the coming year with a view to enhancing public understanding of government's policy directions and responding to people's aspirations towards various policy areas, while the Budget plays an important role in taking forward the Policy Address by making relevant financial and funding arrangements. The Policy Address and the Budget are, therefore, closely related. The back-to-back delivery of these two documents strengthens the co-ordination and interaction between policy formulation and budgetary planning, and facilitates more comprehensive discussions among different sectors of the community. In addition, such an arrangement provides the public with a holistic picture of the government's comprehensive policy initiatives, set against the overall economic situation and relevant fiscal measures. A smaller time-gap between the delivery of the two documents also ensures early implementation of the initiatives announced in the Policy Address that require new funding in the following financial year.
My reply to the three parts of the question is as follows:
(a) As I have mentioned earlier, the Policy Address and the Budget are closely related. A smaller time-gap between the delivery of the two documents enables better co-ordination between policy formulation and budgetary planning. Different sectors of the community are in a better position to ponder on and discuss in a comprehensive manner policy initiative proposals, having regard to public finance priorities. As such, we will continue to conduct joint public consultations on the Policy Address and the Budget as a whole, so that the Government can gauge public opinion extensively.
In fact, according to our experience in public consultation, members of the public and different sectors of the community, when considering and putting forward their comments, usually bring up policies or measures together with proposals for relevant funding or budgetary requirements. Last year's combined consultation exercise had taken due account of the proposals on the Policy Address and the Budget impartially from different sectors of the community, including Members of the Legislative Council and the general public. A combined public consultation exercise for the Policy Address and the Budget not only helps members of the public express their views in a holistic manner, but also enables the Government to co-ordinate policy formulation and budgetary planning. Arrangements for the public consultation and its progress will be further enhanced. The communication with Members of the Legislative Council and the general public will be strengthened whenever necessary, and the public consultation exercise will be widely publicised to encourage more people to come forward with their views.
(b) The Government will commence its extensive consultation several months before the delivery of the Policy Address and the Budget. In finalising their contents, views collected in the course of public consultation as well as proposals received through other channels will be thoroughly considered, and various factors carefully weighed. The Policy Address puts forward major policy initiatives, whilst the Budget lays out the financial arrangements for their implementation. In the course of public consultation, all sectors of the community are, therefore, encouraged to actively express their views and hold extensive discussions on the Government's policy objectives and public resource allocation for the following year. The Government attaches great importance to the views of the community, including those on the Policy Address and the Budget. The Government will humbly listen to and duly consider the proposals and views received at any stage and will take them as reference for policy implementation.
(c) We have a high regard of the Legislative Council and cherish as much the executive-legislative relationship. That was why when we had come to know that some Members had a different view on the arrangements for the delivery of the Policy Address this January, I availed myself of the opportunity at the special meeting of the House Committee held in March this year to express my willingness to hear Members' views on the arrangements regarding the delivery of the next Policy Address, including the timing. No Member raised any views on this subject at the meeting. To allow adequate time for Members and the Secretariat of the Legislative Council to plan for their legislative work for the following year, the Government, upon confirmation, informed Members through the President of the Legislative Council and the Chairman of the House Committee in early June, of the updated timing for delivery of the next Policy Address and the Budget and the arrangements for the rest of this term of Government. In my letter to the President of the Legislative Council, I expounded the justifications and merits of this arrangement, including the narrowed time-gap between the delivery of the Policy Address and the Budget, and the early implementation of the initiatives announced in the Policy Address that require additional funding. I believe such an arrangement is in line with the general public interest in that the community will benefit from the new policy initiatives as early as possible.
Thank you, President.
Ends/Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Issued at HKT 13:10
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