CONFIDENTIAL
requirement that complaints must be routed
through Unofficial Members of the Legislative
Council would undoubtedly do much to enhance
the status of such Members, but in the particular
circumstances of Hong Kong this might have its
drawbacks. (This point can hardly be put to the
Governor's unofficial advisers although the
Parliamentary Under-Secretary may wish to put
it to the Governor himself.)
(b) If members of the public were given the
option of complaining either direct or through
a Member of the Legislative Council, then the
chances are that they would choose the direct
approach.
(c) It is in our view vitally important that the
volume of work descending on the Cmbudsman in the
first months of his appointment should be kept
within limits which will ensure that his office
is not over-loaded. The same point needs to be
borne in mind when considering the range of
subjects which are to fall within the Ombudsman's
powers of investigation.
(a) We think that the initial staff of the ho
office should be small (not more than perhaps a
dozen persons at most) and that it would be
better in the early stages to err on the side
of caution as regards the scupe of the Ombudsman's
responsibilities:
these can always be extended
-3-
CONFIDENTIAL
/in.
•