CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
The government is advised on matters relating to pay and conditions of service by four independent bodies. The Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service advises on matters affecting directorate officers. The Standing Committee on Judicial Salaries and Conditions of Service advises on matters affecting judicial officers. The Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service advises on the salaries and conditions of service of the disciplined services. The Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Con- ditions of Service advises on matters affecting all other civil servants.
The government values regular communication and consultation with staff. There are four consultative councils at the central level: Senior Civil Service Council, Model Scale I Staff Consultative Council, Disciplined Services Consultative Council and Police Force Council. More than 80 consultative committees operate at the departmental level. Individual staff or staff associations also have ready access to departmental or grade management and the Civil Service Branch. There is an established system to deal with staff complaints and grievances, as well as an award scheme to encourage improvement suggestions from staff. A Civil Service Newsletter is published quarterly to provide an added link with civil servants and retirees.
Staff commitment and contributions are recognised in various forms including appreciation letters, commendations, and honours or awards. Long Service Travel Awards, Long and Meritorious Service Awards and retirement souvenirs are given to long-serving civil servants. To promote the community spirit of the civil service, a Civil Service Walk for Charity was organised on October 15, 1995, following the successful precedent in 1993.
There are four main types of terms of appointment in the Civil Service: local permanent and pensionable (P&P) terms, local agreement terms, overseas P&P terms and overseas agreement terms. Local candidates are normally appointed on local P&P terms. However, for grades which have difficulty in recruiting or retaining local candidates on P&P terms, local agreement terms may be offered, subject to the advice of the Public Service Commission. A local agreement officer has the option to transfer to local P&P terms. Under the government's long-established localisation policy, an overseas candidate is appointed to the Civil Service only if no fully qualified and suitable local person is available and the qualification for appointment cannot be modified to enable a local candidate to be appointed. Offer of first appointments on overseas P&P terms ceased on March 28, 1985, and all first appointments on overseas terms have since been made on agreement terms only. Appointees on local terms receive local conditions of service and those on overseas terms receive overseas conditions. At senior directorate level, local and overseas conditions of service are virtually the same. At more junior levels, there are some differences in housing benefits, and leave and passage entitlements.
P&P officers can serve up to the normal retirement age. Circumstances under which this does not apply include: compulsory retirement or dismissal on disciplinary grounds, invalidation on medical grounds, removal from office for unacceptable performance and removal under the provisions of an abolition of office scheme or a compensation scheme. For agreement officers, local and overseas alike, each renewal of agreement depends on service need, satisfactory conduct and performance and physical fitness. For overseas agreement officers, in line with the localisation policy, the offer of another overseas agreement is also subject to no suitable local replacement being found available.
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