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is, of course, the public officer with personal responsibility for the expenditure of public funds in a specific area, and is frequently the head of department concerned. I do not suppose, Sir, that by making these proceedings public we shall manage to reach the high state of drama of a United States Congressional Committee Hearing. But the Working Party felt that this step would be consistent with the spirit of, and complementary to the committee stage proceedings of the Appropriation Bill and would help in the development of open government, and would demonstrate to the public the accountability of controlling officers.
There are two other important amendments proposed
to Standing Orders. It is thought right to increase the quorum of this Council from 10 to 20 to reflect the growth in the membership of this Council since this Order was last amended. This requires an amendment to Standing Order 10(1): A complementary amendment to the Royal Instructions is being sought at present. Sir, next, Standing Order 45(2) is to be amended to require that notice of proposed amendments to a bill in a committee of the whole Council should be given four instead of three clear days in advance of the bill's referral to committee. This will provide more time for publicity to be given to proposed amendments, and brings the requirement for notice into line with, the provisions for motions and for questions.
Sir, the other amendment to Standing Orders to which I ought to
make reference, not to give it headlines but rather to put it in context, is the deletion of references to 'Colony' which are to be replaced by references to 'Hong Kong'. I need only say that this follows the practice with regard to legislation and official documents that is now long standing and has no special significance. There are other amendments to Standing Orders in the Resolution of no great significance which are textual or raise points or minor procedure. The opportunity has been taken to specify the functions of Finance Committee by reference to the Public Finance Ordinance, and to make it clear that the Public Finance Ordinance is pre-eminent in determining the functions of Finance Committee.