Parliamentary Com
CONFIDENTIAL
misscones
8. Appointment of embudsman
for Administratio
It is possible that the matter of the
ment
appointing of an ombudsman may be raised by
supplementary Question under the last part of
the substantive question. It has been the
opinion of the Governor and his advisers that,
before any final conclusion is reached on this
matter, steps should first be taken to strengthen
the machinery which already exists for enabling
the people of Hong Kong to make known and seek
redress for their grievances.
9. Existing Machinery
х
There have been arrangements in Hong Kong
for some time enabling members of the public to
make known and seek redress for their griev-
ances.
These arrangements include:
(a) The office of the unofficial members of
the Executive and Legislative Councils
(UMELCO). This is an office through
which members of the public can bring
their views and complaints to the notice
of unofficial members of the two Councils,
in accordance with the polity not described in paragraph & above,
the Hong Kong Government have very recently
[the
appointed an experienced Administrative
Secretary to the UMELC
UMELCO office.
This officer acts as a receiving point
for representations from the public and
makes any necessary enquiries from the
relevant departments of Government.
There has not, as yet, been sufficient
time to assess the efficacy of this
arrangement.
(b) the "ward" system of the Urban Council.
Under this system, members of the Council
set aside specified periods during which
they receive complaints from members of
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