CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
council promotes cultural performances and runs a comprehensive programme of public entertainment throughout the urban area.
The council consists of 40 members, 15 elected from district constituencies, 15 appointed by the Governor and 10 representative members from the urban district boards. It meets in public once a month when it passes by-laws and deals with finances, formal motions and questions on its activities. The routine business of the Urban Council is conducted by the Standing Committee of the whole council, supported by 12 select committees and 23 working groups or sub-committees.
As from November 1, 1991, all the council's select committees as well as the Keep Hong Kong Clean Committee have opened their meetings to the public.
The council's chief executive is the Director of Urban Services, who controls the operations of the Urban Services Department with a staff of 16 300. The director is charged with carrying out the council's policies and implementing its decisions.
The council is financially autonomous and during 1991-2 spent about $3,888 million on council-controlled activities and projects. It is financed by a share of the rates which forms the main part of its income, with the balance coming from various licence fees and other charges.
The council has ward offices spread throughout the urban area where councillors deal with and answer complaints from the public on a wide variety of matters. Since December 1991, members of the public may also make their complaints and views known to the council_through the 'Members Duty Roster System'. Under this system, members of the council are placed on a duty roster to meet the public, by appointment, twice a week.
Regional Council
The Regional Council is the statutory municipal authority for the New Territories where some 2.5 million people live. It is responsible for all matters concerning environmental hygiene, public health, sanitation, liquor licensing and the provision of recreation, sports and cultural facilities and services within its jurisdiction.
The Regional Council consists of 36 members. Twelve are elected directly, nine are elected as representatives of the nine district boards within the Regional Council area and 12 are appointed by the Governor. The remaining three are ex-officio members, being the chairman and two vice-chairmen of the Heung Yee Kuk. The chairman and vice-chairman of the council are elected by members among themselves.
The council's policies are implemented by its executive arm, the Regional Services Department, which is headed by the Director of Regional Services and has a staff of about 10 000.
The council is financially autonomous. Its main source of revenue comes from rates collected in the council area which in 1991–2 provided about 80 per cent of total revenue, with the remainder being fees and charges, investment income (mostly interest from bank deposits). In 1991-2, total revenue amounted to $1,991 million while total expenditure amounted to $2,237 million.
The council meets monthly to deal with policy issues, formal motions and members' questions on its activities. It has set up four functional select committees, nine geographically-based district committees and a Liquor Licensing Board. The four select committees deal with finance and administration, capital works, environmental hygiene, and recreation and culture, while the district committees deal with and monitor the provision
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