CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
Advisory Committees
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The network of government boards and committees is a distinctive feature of the system of government in the territory which seeks to obtain, through consultation with interested groups in the community, the best possible advice on which to base decisions. Thus advisory bodies of one kind or another are found in nearly all government departments and quasi-government bodies. In general, advisory bodies may be divided into five categories: statutory bodies which give advice to a head of department (such as the Po Leung Kuk Advisory Board); statutory bodies which give advice to the government (such as the Board of Education); non-statutory bodies which give advice to a head of department (such as the Advisory Committee on Social Work Training); non-statutory bodies which give advice to the government (such as the Transport Advisory Committee), and committees which are executive in nature (such as the Hong Kong Examinations Authority).
Government officials and members of the public are represented on these committees. Well over 5 000 members of the public are appointed to serve on a total of 432 boards and committees, and some serve on more than one of these advisory bodies. These members are appointed on account of their specialist knowledge or expertise, or through their record or interest in contributing to the life of the community. Increasing importance has been attached to the contribution they make to the formulation and execution of government policies and, in order to utilise their potential to the full, a systematic and regular monitoring of the composition and effectiveness of these bodies is carried out. Where appropriate, the government will broaden the cross-section of representation and encour- age an inflow of new ideas through a reasonable turnover of membership.
The Administration
Role of the Chief Secretary
The Chief Secretary advises the Governor on matters of policy, and is principally responsible for its implementation. He is the head of the Public Service. The Chief Secretary, together with the Financial Secretary and the Attorney General are the Governor's principal advisers.
The Chief Secretary has a very small personal staff. He exercises direction primarily as head of the Government Secretariat, the central organisation comprising the secretaries of the policy branches and their staff. Since 1902, when the office of Lieutenant-Governor lapsed, the Chief Secretary (or his predecessor, the Colonial Secretary) has deputised for the Governor during his absence. He is the Senior Official Member of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council and is the Chairman of the Finance Committee.
Role of the Financial Secretary
The Financial Secretary is responsible for the fiscal and economic policies of the Hong Kong Government, and is an ex-officio member of both the Executive and Legislative Councils. He is, in addition, a member of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council, and Chairman of the Public Works Sub-Committee of the Finance Committee. As the government officer with primary responsibility for Hong Kong's fiscal and economic policies, the Financial Secretary oversees the operations of the Finance, Monetary Affairs, Trade and Industry, and Economic Services Branches of the Government Secretariat.
The Financial Secretary is responsible under the Public Finance Ordinance for laying before the legislature each year, the government's Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure. In his capacity as an official member of the Legislative Council, he delivers a major speech