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respective Select Committees? Then, is it your wish that I exercise my right of reply before putting the motion to you?
This afternoon, for the first time, we are called upon to vote on the budget we have prepared ourselves. This budget, as I said in introducing it, has been put together by the Finance Select Committee and approved by the Standing Committee only after all Select Committees have had their say, so all Members had two and some even three opportunities of making their views known in detail on the figures now before you. No Member can say that his opinion was not heard if he really wanted to put it forward. There are many views that have been expressed today and I will now ask the Finance Select Committee and the Select Committees to which they refer, to give them the consideration they deserve. Also, the Senior Treasury Accountant will be asked to clarify to Members such misunderstanding of the position as was evident in some of the views we heard.
There is no doubt that from now onward much more hard-work will have to be undertaken by the Select Committees. There is a great deal of planning going on contrary to what one Member said. There is in fact a pilot planning unit already within the department. And, our Select Committees actually work towards a target in every case; it is in fact inherent in the Statement of Aims. These aims are pertinent to the Select Committees in all cases. Now, the point has been made, and emphasized again from the floor by our Senior Elected Member, Mr. B. A. BERNACCHI, that there is a case for further negotiation with the Government on the question of revenue. This matter has exercised our attention already, just as the suggestion made about car parks by Mr. C. K. CHAN has been the subject of discussion, not only in the particular Select Committee, but also in Finance Select Committee. It is certain that all Select Committees, capable of improving our sources of revenue, must, in the months ahead, go into the costing of each situation to ensure that the rate-payers' interest is fully protected.
The expansion of our various services, particularly in the direction of those programmes under the control of Mr. P. K. NG's Committee, must go forward. Much more money must be spent in serving the public than is the case at present. Mr. Henry Hu has rightly pointed out the situation in terms of the proportion available for such services. This is a situation which cannot be ignored, and Mr. TSIN is right when he says that this is the first time we consider it and so our allocation of money may not go far enough. It is nevertheless a job well done, but we will want to be more ambitious in the future. This
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is our aim. It is not the consensus of this Council that we should accumulate money, rather, the opinion of the Council, as far as I am able to gauge it, is that we must continue to give service to the people as efficiently and effectively as possible, and to search for new ways in which our funds can be translated in terms of actual service for the common good. It is not a socially responsible policy to accumulate a large surplus beyond prudence and the basic requirement of backing our currency, safeguarding our environment, improving our situation and protecting our society as a whole against any contingencies. Beyond doing so, it is a policy which might well lead to social injustice if it causes neglect to give the service for the well-being of the people. So this is the position.
I would like to thank all Councillors, and in particular the Finance Select Committee under our Vice-Chairman, Mr. CHEONG-LEEN, for all the good work that has been done and to express the hope that you will find it possible to spend all the money allocated to you. Now, if it is your wish, I will put the motion to you.
The question was put.
The motion was carried unanimously.
ADJOURNMENT — 5.23 P.M.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-That concludes the business of today's meeting. The Council stands adjourned until Tuesday, 11th December, 1973 at 4 p.m.
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