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THE GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS OF HONG KONG
BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
As government operations become larger and more complex, an in- creasing number of committees are set up. Some are to harmonize the views of different departments within the administration; others include representatives of outside interests with whom government finds it necessary to co-operate, in order to make its own work easier and to provide a more efficient service for the public. The Civil and Miscel· laneous Lists 1984 gave details of 274 committees, of which 160 had been set up under various ordinances. But there are far more than 274, since a number of important ones with no official members such as the Rural Committees and the Heung Yee Kuk in the New Territories are omitted, as well as a vast number of committees and working parties consisting of civil servants only, some of which are permanent, while others are set up to deal with a particular problem and are dissolved when the task has been completed. The Secretary for District Admin- istration in 1982 referred to the existence of at least 385 advisory com. mittees.
Many of these committees are of minor importance and have little to do with influencing government policy. The 1984 List includes 30 boards concerned with the investment and distribution of trust funds and scholarships, 12 management committees and councils of hospitals, temples, and universities, 16 administrative tribunals and boards for the assessment of compensation, 4 licensing and censorship boards, and other similar bodies. Besides these committees, and the 47 stand- ing committees consisting entirely of civil servants, there are (at a con servative estimate) more than 100 other committees which are partly composed of members of the public and which are consulted before government policy is finally decided.
Looking at these committees and their terms of reference it is possible to suggest why they were originally set up. The following categories are not exclusive since any one committee may serve a number of different purposes.
1. To tap expert advice in an area where government must exercise control; for example, the Pharmacy and Poisons Boards, the Radiation Board, the Dangerous Goods Standing Committee, the Exchange Fund Advisory Committee.
2. To stimulate action by businesses and other outside interests in directions which government considers desirable; for example, the Hong Kong Productivity Council, the Metrication Committee.
3. To take politically embarrassing decisions for which government prefers to avoid responsibility; for example, the Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries, the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service, 12 the Advisory Committee on Corruption. The Social Welfare Advisory Committee recommends how the global sum approved by the Finance Committee for subventions should be divided up among the various voluntary agencies.
13
A classic example of government's use of this expedient occurred in
1966.
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