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Reply:
Mr President,
The answer to the first part of the question is that 26 members of the disciplined services have been charged with corruption offences during the past 12 months (November 1994, to October 1995) compared to 21 and 28 over the same period in the preceding 2 years.
As regards the second part of the question, I can assure Honourable Members that the Government remains fully committed to combating corruption in the disciplined services, as indeed combating corruption in the public service as a whole. The overall strategy is to instil a firm attitude against corruption at all levels of the service. The specific measures to combat corruption in the disciplined forces include the following:
(a) Recruitment and Training
All recruits to the disciplined services are vetted by Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) prior to appointment. As part of the basic training for new recruits, and also during in -service training, lectures and seminars on corruption prevention and the relevant anti corruption legislation are organised. Some of these lectures and seminars are given by ICAC staff. Staff are also reminded of the importance of corruption prevention through counselling by senior officers and regular circulation of relevant rules and regulations including for example, the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, the Acceptance of Advantages Notice and the Civil Service Regulations.
(b) Corruption Prevention
In order to minimise the opportunities for corruption, procedures and practices are frequently reviewed with the assistance of the Corruption Prevention Department of the ICAC to rectify areas vulnerable to corruption. Levels of authority for processing and approving cases are examined, and spot check systems to prevent deviation from procedures are introduced. Staff are also rotated at regular intervals. The disciplined services have set up specialised groups for combating corruption. The Police have formed a Force Anti Corruption Steering Committee, which comprises a cross-section of senior Police and ICAC representatives to identify areas of Police activities which present opportunities for corruption. The other disciplined services departments have also set up advisory groups with the Corruption Prevention Department and have dedicated lines of liaison with the Operations Department of the ICAC.