ON
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 1987
+ALTHOUGH THERE MAY BE ROOM FOR DIFFERENCES OF OPINION ON HOW ISSUES ARE BEST HANDLED, I HOPE AND BELIEVE THAT THE MOTIVATION OF THE GOVERNMENT IN REACHING DECISIONS IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE, IS NOT IN QUESTION, HE STRESSED.
MR FORD ALSO SAID PUBLIC EXPECTATIONS FOR BETTER SERVICE, BETTER RESULTS AND MORE EMPHASIS ON COST EFFECTIVENESS IN PUBLIC SPENDING WERE RISING.
ON THE QUESTION OF EFFICIENCY OF THE CIVIL SERVICE, MR FORD ASSURED THE COUNCIL THAT THE MOMENTUM OF THE VALUE-FOR-MONEY EXERCISE WOULD BE MAINTAINED.
ON TOP OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF VALUE FOR MONEY STEERING GROUPS IN SEVEN DEPARTMENTS, MR FORD SAID SIMILAR GROUPS WOULD SHORTLY BE ESTABLISHED IN FOUR OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND HE HOPED ALL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS INVOLVED IN VALUE FOR MONEY STUDIES WOULD BE SO COVERED BY THE END OF MARCH 1988,
ON THE GROWTH OF THE CIVIL SERVICE, MR FORD SAID THE GOVERNMENT HAD CONTINUED TO CONTAIN THE SIZE OF THE SERVICE.
+AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF FIVE YEARS OF ZERO GROWTH, THE PROVISION OF 3 454 NEW POSTS IN THE 1987-88 DRAFT ESTIMATES REPRESENTS AN INCREASE OF JUST 1.9 PER CENT OVER THE ESTABLISHMENT APPROVED FOR THE LAST FINANCIAL YEAR AND IS, I SUGGEST, NOT AN UNREASONABLE INCREASE, HE ADDED.
MR FORD SAID SOME EXPANSION WAS INEVITABLE AS THE POPULATION GREW AND NEW TOWNS WERE DEVELOPED TO ACCOMMODATE THAT GROWTH.
HE SAID PRESSURE ALSO BUILT UP TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF EXISTING SERVICES AND FACILITIES IN THE OLDER ESTABLISHED AREAS PARTICULARLY IN THE FIELDS OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELFARE.
HE ADMITTED THAT SOMETIMES THE QUALITY OF SERVICES, PARTICULARLY IN SOME AREAS OF SOCIAL WORK, HAD NOT ALWAYS KEPT PACE WITH PUBLIC EXPECTATIONS WHICH HAD RISEN SHARPLY AS HONG KONG HAD BECOME MORE AFFLUENT AND AWARE OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS.
+THERE HAS NOT BEEN ANY LACK OF WILL OR VISION BY THE DEPARTMENTS CONCERNED TO PROVIDE BETTER SERVICES BUT THE IR EXPANSION HAS BEEN RESTRICTED BY OUR CONTINUING POLICY OF WORK ING TO CONTAIN THE GROWTH OF THE SERVICE AS A WHOLE, HE ASSERTED.
HE SAID PERSONAL FREEDOM AND ENTERPRISE WERE CENTRAL TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF A NON-INTERVENTION ECONOMIC POLICY WHICH HAD SERVEU HONG KONG WELL.
/+IN THE
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