LCQ8: Manpower of Correctional Services Department and development of Smart Prison
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Question:
In recent years, the Correctional Services Department (CSD) has been actively developing Smart Prison by introducing a number of innovative technological equipment such as smart wristbands and video analytic monitoring systems, with a view to enhancing the efficiency of resource management and the security level of prisons. However, concerns have been raised as to whether the development of Smart Prison will have an impact on the security of institutions and the actual effectiveness of technology investment, in the face of an increasing number of persons in custody (PICs) and possible manpower shortages arising from reductions in departmental expenditure. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the relevant data for various correctional institutions (including prisons, correctional institutions and reception centres) for the past three financial years in accordance with the tables below, and how CSD assesses the current manpower pressure of various institutions:
(a) the average daily number of PICs/occupancy rate and the actual supervisory ratio of frontline staff to PICs for various institutions (set out in Table 1);
Table 1
| Institution | Financial year | Gender of PICs | Average daily number of PICs | Occupancy rate (%) | Crowdedness | Actual supervisory ratio (frontline staff : PICs) |
| (i) Stanley Prison | 2023-2024 | Male | Normal/Crowded | 1 : | ||
| Female | ||||||
| 2024-2025 | Male | |||||
| Female | ||||||
| 2025-2026 | Male | |||||
| Female | ||||||
| (ii)…… | ||||||
| (iii)…… |
(b) whether CSD has deleted or frozen frontline posts (e.g. Assistant Officers and Officers) and back-office administrative posts (set out in Table 2);
Table 2
| Post |
Year |
Number of posts deleted or frozen (set out by gender) |
| (i) Assistant Officer | 2023-2024 | |
| 2024-2025 | ||
| 2025-2026 | ||
| (ii)…… | ||
| (iii)…… |
(c) the average monthly overtime hours of frontline staff in various institutions and the reasons for that (set out in Table 3);
Table 3
| Financial year | Name of institution | Post | Establishment | Average monthly overtime hours per person (hours) | Total overtime hours in the month (hours) | Major reasons for overtime work/ remarks |
| 2023-2024 | ||||||
| 2024-2025 | ||||||
| 2025-2026 |
(d) the number, gender, years of service and reasons for transfer of frontline staff (e.g. Assistant Officers and Officers) to other disciplined services or government departments (set out in Table 4);
Table 4
| Post | Total number of transfer applications in the past three financial years | Years of service and proportion of headcount | Major reasons for transfer | |
| Years of service | Proportion (%) | |||
| (i) Assistant Officer | Less than 3 years | |||
| 3-5 years | ||||
| 5-10 years | ||||
| Over 10 years | ||||
| (ii)…… | ||||
| (iii)…… | ||||
(2) whether the pass rates have increased after CSD relaxed the entry physical fitness test requirements and allowed second- and third-year university students to apply for departmental posts (set out figures by post and gender); of the wastage rate of newly recruited staff in the past year;
(3) of the types and quantities of technological equipment mainly used in various correctional institutions, the breakdown and repair conditions, as well as the alternative arrangements during repair over the past three financial years (set out in Table 5), and how CSD assesses the effectiveness of technology investment; and
Table 5
| Financial year | Institution | Type of technological equipment (including, but not limited to, the following equipment) | Quantity of equipment (quantity of backup) | Total number of breakdown/ damage reports | Major cause of breakdown | Average time taken for repair and putting back into service (working days) | Maximum number of days for repair | Repair and maintenance expenditure | Alternative arrangements during breakdown | Additional daily manpower required during breakdown |
| 2023-2024 | (a) Stanley Prison | Security screening and scanning equipment (e.g. X-ray machines, metal detectors) | ||||||||
| Staff handheld device system | ||||||||||
| Communications and network equipment (e.g. walkie-talkies, radios) | ||||||||||
| Closed-circuit television system | ||||||||||
| Video analytics system | ||||||||||
| Robotic Monitoring System | ||||||||||
| Health monitoring wristbands | ||||||||||
| (b)…… | ||||||||||
| (c)…… | ||||||||||
| 2024-2025…… | ||||||||||
| 2025-2026…… | ||||||||||
(4) of the average number of days that the Robotic Monitoring System was used for patrolling and guarding in various institutions in each of the past three financial years; whether CSD has assessed the additional security risks and work pressure posed to the existing establishment (including staff working overtime) in the event of a system breakdown requiring manual operation?
Reply:
President,
The Correctional Services Department (CSD) is committed to providing a secure, safe, humane, decent and healthy custodial environment for persons in custody (PICs). In recent years, the CSD has been proactively developing Smart Prison through the implementation of innovation and technology strategies to modernise, informatise and humanise management modes and process innovation of correctional institutions, with a view to meeting operational needs while enhancing the efficiency of prison operations, management and rehabilitation work. Moreover, the development of Smart Prison also helps optimise the existing working environment and streamline some of the more cumbersome or physically demanding daily work procedures, thereby ensuring a more humanised and safer environment for correctional officers to perform law enforcement duties.
The reply to the questions raised by the Hon Steven Ho is as follows:
(1) The number of admissions to correctional institutions (including convicted persons, remands and detainees) has been on the increase in recent years. The CSD has flexibly deployed the capacity and manpower of individual correctional institutions to cope with the ever-changing penal population. The CSD will continuously review and assess the manpower requirement of each institution based on factors such as PIC population and their categories, security level, institution design and actual operational needs. Through internally re-deploying its resources and capitalising on technology solutions, the CSD will ensure that each institution has sufficient staff to maintain safety and order. To meet the demand for manpower resources for providing quality correctional services, the CSD has adopted various measures to attract and retain talent, with the leveraging of technology as one of the key measures.
Since the breakdown of PIC population, occupancy rate and staff number, etc, by correctional institution involves details of the CSD's operational and security deployment, such information will not be disclosed. The relevant overall figures/information are provided below:
(a) The average daily penal populations and overall occupancy rates of the CSD in the past three financial years are as follows:
| Financial Year | Average Daily Penal Population | Overall Occupancy Rate (%) |
| 2023-24 | 8 803 | 78.0 |
| 2024-25 | 9 755 | 86.4 |
| 2025-26 | 10 521 | 94.8 |
The numbers of disciplined staff of the CSD (including Officers and Rank and File staff of the CSD, excluding Technical Instructors and Instructors) in the past three financial years are as follows:
| Financial Year | Officer | Rank and File |
| 2023-24 (as at March 31, 2024) |
1 121 | 4 528 |
| 2024-25 (as at March 31, 2025) |
1 099 | 4 555 |
| 2025-26 (as at March 31, 2026) |
1 118 | 4 309 |
(b) The staff establishment of the CSD is not disaggregated by gender. The civil service establishments of the CSD in the past three financial years are set out as follows:
| Financial Year | Civil Service Establishment |
| 2023-24 (as at March 31, 2024) |
7 254 |
| 2024-25 (as at March 31, 2025) |
7 193 |
| 2025-26 (as at March 31, 2026) |
7 153 |
The CSD will enhance efficiency through adoption of measures such as re-prioritising and re-deploying work, flexibly deploying manpower, streamlining work processes and capitalising on technology solutions. For example, the CSD plans to install the Automatic Drone Patrol and Monitoring System 2.0 in six maximum security institutions, which is expected to optimise the prevailing work processes and partly reduce the patrol time of correctional staff, thereby enabling the CSD to deploy manpower more flexibly. While meeting the Government's goal to streamline the civil service, the CSD will continue to deliver high-quality correctional services and ensure that the security and order of institutions are unaffected.
(c) In the past three financial years, frontline staff of the CSD were required to work overtime mainly due to the actual management and operational needs of institutions, such as ad hoc deployment of staff to perform medical escort duties and handle emergencies. The CSD does not maintain statistics on the average monthly overtime hours of frontline staff. The CSD will keep in view the workload of frontline staff and enhance efficiency through adoption of measures such as re-prioritising and re-deploying work, flexibly deploying manpower, streamlining work processes and capitalising on technology solutions based on actual circumstances, so as to reduce overtime work by staff.
(d) According to the CSD's observations and assessments, correctional staff wastage (including transfer to other departments) involves various factors, such as personal career preferences, changes in the economic environment, manpower demands of different sectors or departments, and the unique working environment and special job requirements of correctional institutions. The Department has always attached great importance to staff welfare and treatment, and will continue to adopt a multipronged approach to attract and retain talent. The numbers of disciplined staff of the CSD who transferred to other disciplined services or government departments in the past three financial years are listed as follows:
| Financial Year | No. of Transferred Staff | ||
| Officer | Rank and File | Total | |
| 2023-24 | 3 | 34 | 37 |
| 2024-25 | 0 | 34 | 34 |
| 2025-26 | 1 | 21 | 22 |
The CSD does not maintain a breakdown of the aforementioned transferred staff by gender and years of service.
(2) The CSD regularly reviews its recruitment policy, including entry requirements, and adopts a proactive recruitment strategy, so as to attract more applicants.
Having invited a sports medicine expert to review, the CSD has formulated new physical fitness test standards that better meet the daily operational needs of correctional officers nowadays, and has adopted new entry physical fitness test standards since September 16, 2023. Since the adoption of the new entry physical fitness test standards, the overall passing rates of applicants for Officer and Assistant Officer II have increased by approximately 16 percentage points and 30 percentage points respectively.
In addition, regarding the recruitment of Officer this year, students pursuing a bachelor's degree and graduating by 2028 may receive a conditional offer of employment if they pass the assessment. The recruitment exercise is still in progress, and the CSD will closely monitor the effectiveness of the relevant arrangement.
Among disciplined staff who were recruited between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026, the wastage rate (as at September 30, 2026) was 5.8 per cent.
(3) In recent years, the CSD has gradually introduced a range of technological equipment into institutions, such as the Video Analytic Monitoring System, Smart Wristbands and the Robotic Monitoring System, to assist frontline staff in their supervision and security duties. As the types and quantities of technological equipment used in various institutions involve details of the institutional security deployment, such information will not be disclosed.
Technological equipment in various institutions occasionally break down due to aging, wear and tear or other reasons. The time required for repairing different equipment is affected by multiple factors, including the specific cause of breakdown or damage as well as whether procurement of related equipment or parts is necessary. Since expenses on repair and maintenance of technological equipment are part of the daily operating expenditures of institutions, no breakdown of such expenses is maintained. During equipment breakdown, contingency arrangements will be implemented based on the specific circumstances, which generally include using backup equipment or assigning duty staff to temporarily perform the relevant tasks, normally without the need for additional manpower.
The CSD will assess the effectiveness of its use of technology by regularly reviewing system operation data, gathering feedback from frontline staff and comparing work processes and efficiency before and after the introduction of the relevant technology. In general, the use of technology helps correctional staff identify abnormal behaviours or physical conditions among PICs at an early stage, enabling prompt intervention. At the same time, it reduces repetitive and physically demanding manual procedures, allowing frontline staff to focus more on supervision and rehabilitation tasks that require professional judgement, thereby enhancing security standards and resource efficiency within institutions. The CSD will continue to review the application of various technologies, as well as optimise and implement relevant technologies in accordance with actual needs.
(4) The CSD has set up the Robotic Monitoring System in two correctional institutions. The patrol robots of the system are equipped with multiple cameras and intercommunication functions to assist correctional officers in carrying out night patrol duty and to enhance the monitoring of PICs. Correctional officers can observe prison cells in real time via a tablet computer or a monitor at staff workstations.
The CSD has assessed the relevant impact of possible system breakdown and formulated contingency arrangements. As the system is auxiliary in nature and correctional officers are all along on duty at relevant posts in accordance with established procedures, if a patrol robot breaks down, correctional officers on duty will immediately perform on-site patrol duties in person to maintain institutional security. This generally does not involve extra manpower or overtime work. The CSD does not maintain records of the average number of days per year on which the system was in operation in the past three financial years.
Ends/Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Issued at HKT 14:55
Issued at HKT 14:55
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