$82
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not to recommend any action in the matter. For my own part, I am strongly against the imposition of any restraint on questions unless it is clear that a majority of the Members wish this to be done. The discussions conducted in this Council may seem long to Mr. LOBO, but they are orderly and the diversity of views brought forward at question time is, in my opinion, one of the most stimulating and interesting features of our monthly public meetings, whatever may be the wear and tear upon official members. (Laughter). I feel that it is up to the Members of the Council to discipline themselves in this matter, rather than for me to impose arbitrary restraints or to encourage the slightest tendency towards inhibition and inertia in the conduct of our meetings.
Mr. MARDEN kindly provided statistics which show that in this debate the 10 Elected Members spoke for 145 minutes and 30 seconds, while the 9 Appointed Members who spoke took 128 minutes and 30 seconds to make their speeches. The average length of speech for both Appointed and Elected Members was therefore just over 14 minutes. (Laughter). Mr. LOBO required more than the average time, no doubt because part of his speech was devoted to advising me to curtail the duration of the debates.
Dr. Woo referred to the lack of publicity given to legislation prior to its enactment. Government, in meeting this requirement, must inevitably rely on the co-operation of the local press. So far as a Bill is concerned, every public measure, on its first reading in the Legislative Council, is introduced by an official member whose introductory address normally explains the purpose and implications of the Bill. These explanations, supplemented by official handouts prepared by the Information Services Department, should enable the Press to give reasonable guidance to the general public, bearing in mind that every Bill is normally gazetted for a period of one month between its first and final reading.
As regards the traffic re-routing mentioned by Dr. Woo, I have been told by the Commissioner of Police that this is permitted by the erection of the prescribed traffic signs under Regulation 3 of the Road Traffic (Roads & Signs) Regulations, 1959. The one-way routing of Cotton Path, which I believe Dr. Woo had in mind, was the subject of a police notice published on 31st October and 1st November in two English language and three Chinese newspapers, advising the public of the change. Police officers were on hand to advise drivers of the change and it is most unlikely that anyone was prosecuted in connexion with this re-routing.
I now turn to the points made by Dr. P. F. Woo and the Honourable FUNG Hon-chu in regard to the Health Inspectorate. A review of the conditions of service of the Inspectorate was first suggested by the Colonial Secretariat in 1960. From then until the latter part of 1962, a very searching study was made of the grade, which included such matters as salaries, conditions of service, the general structure of the Inspectorate and the training of new entrants to the grade.
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Colonial Secretariat in 1960. From then until the latter part of 1962, a very searching study was made of the grade, which included such matters as salaries, conditions of service, the general structure of the Inspectorate and the training of new entrants to the grade.
In June 1961 the Colonial Secretariat informed the department that the conclusions then reached were that the salary scales and promotion prospects appeared to be over generous in relation to other grades with the same basic educational qualifications. It was also considered that some re-distribution of senior posts was desirable. These views were considered by the department and, amongst other things, led to a request that no amendments be made to the structure of the Inspectorate, but whilst Government appreciated the department's views on this it was nevertheless decided to have only one post of Superintendent, to be head of the Inspectorate. This compared with two posts of Superintendent previously, one for Cleansing and the other for Hygiene, but under that organization there was no one officer responsible for the entire Health Inspectorate and this was considered to be unsatisfactory. To compensate for the loss of one post of Superintendent, Government agreed to the creation of three additional posts of Chief Health Inspector and this more than compensated for the loss of the single post by creating better promotion prospects at Senior Health Inspector level. The matter of training new entrants was one which had to be considered in consultation with the Royal Society of Health in London; hence the length of time it took to complete the review.
On the question of resignations, during the year 1963/64 the strength of the Health Inspectorate stood at 216 officers and during that year there was only one resignation. The officer concerned left with his family for America. In 1964/65 the strength of the Inspectorate stood at 232 officers and during that year there were four resignations and one transfer to another grade. Of these four resignations, only one officer gave no reason for leaving. Of the remaining three, one left to become an export executive whilst the remaining two left to further their studies in America and the University of Hong Kong respectively. During the current year out of an establishment of 224 officers there have been three resignations and two transfers to other grades. Again, of the three officers who resigned only one gave no reason. Of the remaining two, one left to join a firm of solicitors as an articled clerk whilst the other left on migration to Canada. Amongst the Student Health Inspectors, the establishment of which is now 80 posts, there have been two resignations and four transfers to other posts since this grade came into being on 1st April, 1963. A number of the officers who resigned were interviewed by me at the time of handing in their resignations. They were specifically asked whether their resignations were because of dissatisfaction and in every
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... case, they said "No".