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Constitution and Administration
District Administration
Hong Kong comprises 18 districts, each with a District Office, a District Council and a District Management Committee (DMC). Each district office is headed by a District Officer, who represents the HKSAR Government at the local level in overseeing district administration.
The 18 District Councils of the fifth term (2016-2019) have 458 seats in all, comprising 431 elected seats and 27 ex-officio seats whose members are the chairmen of the New Territories rural committees.
The councils' main function is to advise the government on matters affecting the well-being of their local residents, and on the provision and use of their public facilities and services. The government consults the councils on a wide range of issues. The councils carry out district minor works and community involvement projects, for which the government allocated $340 million and $361.6 million, respectively, in the 2016-17 financial year. The government has undertaken to increase the annual provision for district minor works progressively to $400 million within the two council terms from 2012 to 2019.
The DMCs are government bodies chaired by the district officers. Each DMC comprises the chairman, vice-chairman and committee chairmen of the council and representatives of government departments providing essential services in the district. It serves as a forum for consultation and coordination between various departments and the council to resolve inter- departmental district issues and to ensure district needs are met promptly.
In 2016-17, the government allocated $63 million to the 18 districts to fully implement a District-led Actions Scheme based on the success of pilot schemes in Sham Shui Po and Yuen Long. The scheme enables the DMCs, by fully engaging their District Councils, to handle local issues on the management of public areas and environmental hygiene more effectively, and to launch projects that take advantage of local opportunities.
There are 63 Area Committees, district-based advisory bodies which help organise community involvement activities, advise on local issues and promote public participation in district affairs. Their members are drawn from a wide spectrum of the community, including council members.
Twenty Home Affairs Enquiry Centres, attached to the district offices, provide a wide range of free services to the public, including answering general enquiries about government services, distributing government forms, disseminating information and administering declarations and oaths (including affirmations in lieu of oaths) for private use. Residents seeking legal advice can make appointments at the centres to see volunteer lawyers under a Free Legal Advice Scheme administered by the Duty Lawyer Service. Rating and Valuation Department representatives are also available at five designated centres on specified days to advise on tenancy matters. The 20 enquiry centres and the Home Affairs Department's Telephone Enquiry Centre together served 2.3 million people in 2016.
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