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financial situation. To this end, the following reviews will be conducted by the various branches of the Department:
(1) Review on the staffing and mode of operation of indoor games halls and similar facilities;
(2) Review on the feasibility of contracting out the refuse collection service;
(3) Review on the employment of more contract staff to replace the Clerical Assistants in PUC libraries;
(4) Review on the staffing of the Public Information Unit;
(5) Review on the staffing of the USD Training School;
(6) Review on the provision of venue facilities maintenance and vehicle repair services by the Electrical and Mechanical Departments;
(7) Review on the actual needs for replacement of vehicles and the proposal of hiring transportation services from the private sector be considered.
At this stage, it is difficult to give an accurate estimation on the resources that can be saved with the introduction of these measures. Nevertheless, the Council's first target is to achieve a balanced budget in 1999/2000 by eliminating the deficit of $340M.
In the second part of the question, Mr. To asks how the Department would improve the management of field officers in order to meet the requirement of the EPP.
Regarding the existing measures to monitor field officers and strengthen supervision, the relevant information is conveyed in the reply to Mr. CHAN Cho-hi's question.
In the third part of the question, Mr. To asks how the Department has materialized the concept of 'enhanced productivity' in regard to the employment of contract staff to take up vacancies of Assistant Clerical Officers in PUC libraries to suit the working hours of those posts.
Due to the long opening hours of PUC libraries, library staff have to be on duty on holidays and outside normal office hours. To achieve flexible deployment of manpower, the Department has employed contract staff to fill some of the posts of Assistant Clerical Officers in PUC libraries since 1992. At present, the Department has employed 40 contract staff to work in 38 libraries of the PUC (while the number of government Assistant Clerical Officers is about 140). Apart from increasing the flexibility of staff deployment, the employment of contract staff can help to reduce the expenditure of the Department. From the experience of the past few years, the employment of contract staff has not caused a deterioration of the service quality. To realize the concept of 'enhanced productivity', the Department will consider employing more contract staff to replace Assistant Clerical Officers in PUC libraries. For instance, when the Central Library opens, the Department will employ a large number of contract staff.
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