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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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salaries and other operating costs of that office are paid by the 2 municipal councils. As to whether the office's work is monitored by us, the answer is 'yes'. The Hygiene Services Committee which Mr. Joseph CHAN has mentioned a moment ago holds monthly meetings and the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Urban Council's Public Health Select Committee will be present at the meetings. Councillors of the Regional Council will also attend the meetings. The Director of Health is the Chairman of that Committee. Other Departments concerned, such as the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, are also represented at the meetings.
With regard to monitoring, Members know that Dr. LEUNG would attend our meetings in case we wish to make any enquiries. He would also attend other meetings if necessary. As to the monitoring of expenditures, there is no individual account for the expenditures on food hygiene which would be audited by the Director of Audit. However, we can assess the cost-effectiveness of the expenditures basing on the quality and quantity of the services funded by us annually, but there is no formal auditing. My explanation ends here. If there is any further follow-up questions, perhaps Mr. Joseph CHAN and I can answer them together.
MR. CHAN KWOK-LEUNG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, you just mentioned that we monitor the work of the Department of Health through the Hygiene Services Committee which comprises representatives from various government departments. I would like to ask whether the Hygiene Services Committee is under the Urban Council or the Urban Services Department, or the Department of Health. Secondly, is it a policy making body or a consultative body? And then there is a question regarding a complicated arrangement. The fact is that there are 3 teams of Health Inspectors which are under the supervision of 3 different departments, i.e. the Urban Services Department, the Regional Services Department and the Department of Health. Is there any legislation, for instance the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance or its By-laws, which is enforced by Health Inspectors of more than one departments?
MR. JOSEPH CHAN Yuek-sut (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, if my answer is incomplete or inaccurate, please give additional explanations. Regarding the first question, the answer is that it is not under the Urban Council. As to the second question, the Hygiene Services Committee is a policy making body and it also has consultative nature. As regards the two Municipal Services Departments and the Department of Health's authority to enforce legislation, as I mentioned earlier, all regulations under Part V of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132) are enforced by the Department of Health while part of them are enforced by the two Municipal Services Departments. The recent 'Vitasoy Incident' is a good example to show the division of work in law enforcement. The factory of Vitasoy is situated in Tuen Mun which is within the Regional Council's jurisdiction, therefore, the licence is issued by the Regional Council in accordance with the licensing legislation.
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