Appendix B
The Inadequacy of Representation at Senior Civil Service Council Level
INSTA
Consultation at Senior Civil Service Council level cannot provide adequate representation of the interests of the Hong Kong public as the public miturally has no voice on the Council.
2. The three main Staff Associations do have a voice, but it cannot be regarded as an adequate voice until the Associations have:
(i) formed a permanent and standing Staff Side Committee with an elected
Chairman and a Secretary and a number of Sub-Committees to provide for consultation with and representation of the interests of the various professional groups within the Associations;
(ii) gained several years' experience in responsible consultation.
Only then can the Senior Civil Service Council be considered as qualified to carry authority for reaching agreements which can equitably be made binding on all members of the Public Service.
3. An example of the Staff Side's present lack of organisation and experience is its handling of the Equal Pay proposals referred to it by the Official Side on 5th December, 1969. Without holding a preliminary Staff Side Committee meeting, without reference even to their Executive Committees, and without preliminary discussion at a General Purposes Committee meeting of the Senior Civil Service Council, the three Associations' delegates entered into discussions at the quarterly meeting of the Senior Civil Service Council on 16th December 1969 with a view to reaching agreement on these important proposals at that meeting. It is only subsequent protests from the Associations' membership that have put in question the validity of the agreement which the minutes of that meeting record as having been reached.