CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
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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 each year, outlining the government's budgetary proposals and moving the adoption of the Appropriation Bill, which gives legal effect to the annual expenditure proposals contained in the Budget. He is also personally responsible under a number of ordinances for carrying out various executive duties, such as setting levels of certain charges and remunerations, and overseeing the accounts of certain trust funds and statutory bodies.
Role of the Director of Audit
The audit of all the government's accounts is carried out by the Director of Audit. He also audits the accounts of the Urban Council, the Regional Council, the Vocational Training Council, the Housing Authority and more than 50 statutory and non-statutory funds and other public bodies, and reviews the financial aspect of the operations of the multifarious government-subvented organisations working in Hong Kong. The director's appointment, tenure of office, duties and powers are prescribed in the Audit Ordinance and in guidelines tabled in the Legislative Council by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee on November 19, 1986. To ensure his complete autonomy and independence in the performance of his duties and the exercise of his powers, the Audit Ordinance provides that the director shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority. It also prescribes certain safeguards against his dismissal or premature retirement from office.
Structure of the Administration
The Administration of the Hong Kong Government is organised into branches and departments. The branches, each headed by a secretary, collectively form the Government Secretariat. There are currently 11 policy branches, two resource branches concerned with finance and the Public Service, and a branch with special responsibility for co-ordinating measures to implement the terms of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the question of Hong Kong. There is also an Office of the Deputy Chief Secretary, which co-ordinates work on issues which span the responsibilities of two or more branches and undertakes specific tasks in relation to constitutional development.
The policy branches whose secretaries report directly to the Chief Secretary are: Administrative Services and Information, City and New Territories Administration, Education and Manpower, Health and Welfare, Lands and Works, Municipal Services, Security and Transport. The Civil Service Branch, a resource branch, the General Duties Branch and the Office of the Deputy Chief Secretary also come under the aegis of the Chief Secretary. The policy branches whose secretaries report directly to the Financial Secretary are: Economic Services, Monetary Affairs and Trade and Industry. The Finance Branch, a resource branch, is also responsible to the Financial Secretary. The head of the Finance Branch is the Deputy Financial Secretary who, despite his title, is of the same rank and status as the other Secretaries.
With certain exceptions, the heads of government departments are responsible to the branch secretaries for the direction of their departments and the efficient implementation of approved government policy. The exceptions are such bodies as the Audit Department and the Independent Commission Against Corruption, whose independence is safeguarded by their director and commissioner, respectively, reporting directly to the Governor; the Judiciary, which is the responsibility of the Chief Justice, and the Legal Department, which