CONFIDENTIAL
VISIT OF MR PETER BLAKER MP TO HONG KONG: 23-25 SEPTEMBER 1979
IEF NO. HK6
THE URBAN COUNCIL
The
1. The Urban Council consists of 24 members, 12 elected and 12
appointed by the Governor from among members of the public.
elected members are chosen by a franchise limited by education and
property qualifications to about 440,000 people. Only 12,400 of
those eligible voted in the last Council elections, in March this
year.
2. The Council, which administers its own budget, is responsible
for public health matters and for recreational and cultural facili-
ties in the urban areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon. It was previously
also responsible for a number of other matters, including public
housing, within the urban areas, but lost these functions in 1973
when the Hong Kong Government decided that it was preferable for
such matters to be dealt with by centralised Government agencies
whose responsibilities extend throughout the colony.
3. A list of the present members of the Council is attached.
CAMPAIGN FOR REFORM OF COUNCIL
4. Certain of the elected members, notably Mr Bernacchi, Dr Huang
and Mrs Elliott, would like to see the Council regain its previous
wider powers.
They would also like to see the phasing out of
appointed members, so that the Council would become an entirely
elected body, with an extended franchise. They have also suggested
that there should be a minority of directly elected members in the
Legislative Council.
5. All the available evidence suggests that there is little public
support in Hong Kong for such reforms, although proposals for more
democracy in Hong Kong understandably attract a certain amount of
/sympathy
CONFIDENTIAL