10.
The
Similarly, the appropriateness of the legal provision, for crediting the fees paid for the services rendered by members of the Fire Services Department engaged in special duties, to the Fire Services Department Welfare Fund, was raised in 1971 when the Solicitor General was requested to give an opinion on whether training courses given by members of the Fire Services Department specifically to members of the public were special duties for the purposes of the Ordinance. Solicitor General, in giving his opinion, acknowledged that there had been ambiguity in the interpretation of special duty in the Ordinance but he concluded that the training courses in question were special duties and that the fees raised for such services had to be credited to the welfare fund. However, he made a plea for a review of the policy and a change in the law. He said that provision was made in the Ordinance for the welfare fund to be supplied from appropriation out of general revenue voted by the Legislative Council each year and that it seemed quite wrong that this fund should have to rely on fees charged for services performed, where these services were so closely bound up with the functions and the responsibilities of the Fire Services Department. He was firmly of the opinion that all services rendered by the Fire Services Department should be either statutory and provided free or contractual and paid for. If contractual, the financial benefit should accrue to the general revenue whilst the welfare fund should be properly endowed out of the general revenue without regard to the amount of money that the Government might make from selling these services to the public. The Solicitor General applied these remarks also to police contractual services but his recommendation was never followed up and the policy review did not take place. Meanwhile the Fire Services Department Welfare Fund's income from training course fees has increased from $80,000 in 1971-72 to nearly $1.4 million in 1983-84.
11.
Both the Commissioner of Police and the Director of Fire Services have expressed their concern that any policy change that would result in the welfare funds being deprived of the fees collected for the provision of contractual services would have an adverse effect on morale. However, the Deputy Financial Secretary shares my concern that fees charged for providing training courses to members of the public should form a substantial part of the income of the Fire Services Department Welfare Fund and would welcome a review of the policy. He also regrets that the policy issue concerning the fee income from the hire of police officers was not pursued after 1969 but he is reserving further comments until the matter has been considered by the Secretary for Security.