60.
The Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services advised in February 1985 that a detailed check of the leave records of all officers was being conducted within his department and by September 1985 he had checked and corrected the leave records of 970 officers out of a total of 7,000 although he had not quantified the errors discovered in money terms. He has assigned a number of clerical staff to work overtime during the period September to November 1985 in order to complete the exercise and he has informed me that he should be able to report the results in December 1985.
61.
Irregularities and miscalculations of leave earned by the staff of the Urban Services Department had already been noted by the Secretary for the Civil Service in early 1984 prior to my inspection and the Secretary had recommended to the Director of Urban Services that he should conduct a thorough check of the leave records, as inaccuracy in the records could give rise to other problems in addition to overpayments. Unfortunately the results of the checks which the Director may have conducted are still not available, and a reply from the Director of Urban Services to my observations which were issued in February 1985 is also outstanding.
62.
Having regard to the financial implications arising from incorrectly stated leave balances, the Secretary for the Civil Service has taken action to design new forms for leave applications and for recording leave earnings and he will issue an aide-mémoire to all controlling officers drawing attention to the proper method of calculating leave earnings, and on the need to carry out departmental random checks which should be followed by detailed checks if errors are found. In the light of the incidence of errors revealed so far, I have suggested to the Deputy Financial Secretary and the Secretary for the Civil Service that they may wish to consider the desirability of requiring all controlling officers to conduct a detailed check of leave records with a view to confirming their correctness.
63.
Personal Emoluments. Service-wide review of the administration of job-related allowances. In concluding their deliberations on the subject of overpayment of allowances in their Seventh Report issued in December 1984, the Public Accounts Committee stressed the need for adequate review procedures to ensure that allowances are not misapplied, or continued to be applied after eligibility has ceased. The Committee wished to be informed of the results of the special exercises on eligibility which were being carried out by the Secretary for the Civil Service in conjunction with the Director of Accounting Services, and of any recommendations made to improve controls. The Committee also wished to be