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Constitution and Administration
which had been tabled during 2016-17. It also completed scrutinising 129 out of 142 items of subsidiary legislation tabled in 2017-18, with the remaining 13 items scrutinised in 2018-19,
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee consists of all council members except the President of the Legislative Council, with its Chairman and Deputy Chairman elected from among its members. The committee is responsible for scrutinising and approving public expenditure proposals put forward by the government as well as examining the annual Estimates of Expenditure presented by the Financial Secretary to the council during proceedings relating to the Appropriation Bill.
The committee appoints two subcommittees, the Establishment Subcommittee and Public Works Subcommittee, whose memberships are open to all members of the Finance Committee.
The Establishment Subcommittee examines and makes recommendations to the Finance Committee on the government's proposals to create, redeploy and delete directorate posts, and those that seek to change the structure of civil service grades and ranks.
The Public Works Subcommittee examines and makes recommendations to the Finance Committee on the government's proposals about capital works projects.
In 2017-18, the Finance Committee held 38 meetings to scrutinise financial proposals, eight special meetings comprising 21 sessions to examine the Estimates of Expenditure and one meeting to receive the Financial Secretary's briefing on the Budget. The committee deliberated on and approved 98 financial proposals, namely 36 public works proposals costing $168.1 billion in total, 32 establishment proposals and 30 other funding proposals involving a total commitment of $83.3 billion.
Public Accounts Committee
The Public Accounts Committee considers the Director of Audit's reports on the government's accounts and the results of the director's value-for-money audits of government departments and other organisations that are within the purview of public audit. It may invite government officials, representatives of public organisations or any other persons to attend public hearings to give explanations, evidence or information. The seven members of the committee are appointed by the President of the Legislative Council according to an election procedure determined by the House Committee.
In 2017-18, the committee held 15 public hearings and 17 closed meetings. It examined the Director of Audit's report on the government's accounts for the year ended 31 March 2017 and his reports on value-for-money audits (Report Nos 68, 69 and 70). The committee gave its conclusions and recommendations in its Report Nos 68A, 69, 69A, 70 and 70A, which were tabled in the council on 17 January, 7 February, 2 May, 11 July and 14 November 2018 respectively. The Government Minutes in response to Report Nos 68A, 69, 69A and 70 were tabled in the council on 11 April, 16 May and 31 October 2018.
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