STUDY GROUPS
80. When the C.D.O. scheme was being discussed, and before it was launched, it was often suggested that C.D.O.s should be assisted by some form of consultative council or committee. In presenting the proposals the point was made that there are a great many possibilities and that the system lends itself to a number of methods of increasing participation by local people in the formation of government policies.
81. C.D.O.s have set about exploring possibilities by arranging meetings which we call Study Groups. When sufficient contacts have been built up a group of people is invited to meet to discuss some topic likely to be of interest to them. At this stage little is known of the ability of the people invited or the extent to which their views represent any substantial body of opinion. Nevertheless the discussions are taken seriously and when points emerge which need following up with another department this is done. So far Study Groups have been held with bankers, industrialists, school principals, hawkers, leaders of clansmens associations, shop owners, taxi operators, factory and utility workers, university and post-secondary college students and others less easily categorized. Subjects have included not only those of obvious interest to the groups mentioned but also such matters of common concern as traffic problems, corruption, cinema ticket scalpers, control of bicycles, the Urban Council Pop-Ins, funeral parlours, petty crime, smoke from restaurants, social security, clearance of refuse, Chinese as an official language, and numerous other subjects.
82. It is too early to draw any firm conclusions from this type of meeting but experience so far suggests that it would be wrong to move in the direction of any single local advisory body at this stage. C.D.O.s have regular monthly meetings involving a fairly stable group of local leaders but those who attend would be the first to say that others would have to be brought in on any specific subject. The arrangements being made for Hawker Consultative Committees suggest another line of approach but there is a limit to the number of subjects on which the central policy-making or advisory body would wish to be assisted by ten or more local bodies. Furthermore hawkers are generally recognized as constituting a special problem at the present time. The C.D.O. scheme does create a frame-work which can be used to gather local views but it is very easy to see how any extensive formalized arrangements could make administration so cumbersome as to bring their value into doubt.
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