XN000022-1995-10-26 — Page 2

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Civil Service pledges to continuous improvement

To meet the community's diverse needs and constantly changing, rising expectations, civil servants have to keep pace with external change, said the Deputy to the Governor, Mrs Anson Chan today (Thursday).

Addressing the Serving the Community Conference jointly organised by the Efficiency Unit of the Government Secretariat and the Hong Kong Public Administration Association, Mrs Chan said in addition to community expectations, the Civil Service was also under a moral obligation to provide the best services possible.

"For these reasons we have laid great stress on the importance of developing our culture of service. Through the performance pledge programme many departments have improved their service levels and service environments, held various competitions, and made more efforts to encourage and recognise the good work of their staff," she said.

"Taken all in all, I believe we have established a new direction for the culture of the civil service, so that we now focus more on our actual performance and on the people we serve.

"Thus, increasingly our experience of government services includes good stories, of licences issued more quickly than expected, of helpful service which goes the extra mile, and of standards which bear good comparison with the private sector."

While agreeing that there was no simple recipe for success, Mrs Chan said over the past few years, a number of elements stood out as providing signposts for the way ahead.

"The elements are: vision and mission, customer feedback, staff commitment and departmental plans," she said.

Mrs Chan said the aim or vision of the Government included fostering stability and prosperity, improving the quality of life, caring for those in need, protecting the rights and freedoms of the individual, maintaining the rule of law, and encouraging people to participate in their own affairs.

"Without our vision and mission, we tend to become rigid adherents to procedures long after they have ceased to contribute positively to our purpose," she said.