1
2
1
3.
In due Course
a consultancy agreement was
concluded with a firm of professional accountants, Messrs
Ernst & Whinney. The consultancy commenced in August
1983. The consultants'
terms of reference were to advise
whether, given the Government's basic policy towards
public utilities and the provisions of the Schemes of
Control, the Government's monitoring arrangements
safeguarded both consumers and shareholders, and whether
any improvements in those arrangements could be justified.
4.
On 27 October 1983 in the Debate on the Motion of
Thanks, Mr Stephen Cheong referred to the consultancy and
expressed the hope that the Government would treat it as
something much more important than a purely public
relations exercise, and I replied in this Council on
9 November 1983 that we were treating the consultancy very
seriously. I said that whilst we believed that the system
of monitoring was effective it would be foolhardy to work
on the basis that there was no room whatsoever for
improvement.
5.
and on the
The consultants have now completed their report,
the advice of Executive Council you, Sir, ordered
that the report be published. Publication will take place
tomorrow when the report will be available for sale to the
public.
16. In view