CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
THE twelve-month period ending on the 31st March 1968, marked as it was by the communist confrontation and by the splendid response of the people of Hong Kong to the challenge that it posed, was a momentous one for Hong Kong in every respect. As in other spheres of activity, the emergency did not prevent progress being made in the field of social work and social welfare, and at the year's end it is possible to look back on a year of respectable achievement despite many difficulties as well as forward to the development and completion of a number of schemes for which plans were laid in the year under review.
2. During the financial year budgetted departmental expenditure amounted to $12.5 million and in the coming year 1968-69 the budg- etted figure will rise to $15.8 million, an increase of 25%. In keeping with this the departmental staff establishment showed an increase from 855 on 1st April 1967 to an estimated figure of slightly more than one thousand on 31st March 1968. Many of the new posts at professional level were filled by recruitment of trained social workers, but supply nevertheless remains a source of concern, despite assistance given to the two local universities from the Social Work Training Fund towards operating expenses for the courses for social workers, and to individuals both from the Fund, and by means also of Government bursaries and scholarships granted by the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank.
3. Budgetted provision for subventions to voluntary agencies in- creased from $7.9 million during the year to about $9.9 million for the coming financial year, an increase of 25%. About half of this increase was accounted for by increased subventions to agencies providing services for children and activities for young persons. The sums pro- vided include provision for the first year of a planned development of the Boy Scouts movement which will double membership in five years, as well as for eight new centres to be run by the Federation of Youth Groups which currently runs 16 centres. Capital grants allocated from the Lotteries Fund during the year amounted to almost $4 million and
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