XN000022-1996-05-01 — Page 27

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Government Minute

Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary, the Hon Anson Chan, in introducing the Government Minute in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Mr President,

Laid on the table today is the Government Minute responding to Report No. 25 of the Public Accounts Committee. The Minute sets out the measures the Government has taken, or is planning to take, on the conclusions and recommendations contained in the Report.

Mr Eric Li, the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, spoke in this Council on 7 February 1996 when tabling the Report. He highlighted five areas of particular concern to Members of the Committee to which I would like to respond.

First, police indebtedness. As I have said on more than one occasion, as the Chief Secretary I regard it my first duty to ensure that Hong Kong has a public service which is honest and efficient and remains committed to serving the best interests of the community. I and my senior colleagues recognise that serious pecuniary embarrassment might affect the integrity of the officers concerned. We are aware of the need to contain the problem so that public confidence in the civil service is not adversely affected, particularly confidence in the men and women whose duty it is to maintain law and order. The Commissioner of Police, therefore, maintains a very strict policy on indebtedness of police officers. He requires that all police officers should be temperate and prudent in their financial affairs. As the Secretary for Security will outline in his response later today to the motion proposed by the Hon Ambrose Lau, the Police Force has developed a comprehensive strategy for preventing, identifying and dealing with the indebtedness of police officers.

The Commissioner monitors the situation closely by conducting regular six- monthly surveys on indebtedness among police officers. The Government Minute before you contains the findings of the latest survey which show a downward trend in the number of cases of known indebtedness from sources outside the Government. The Police Force management will continue to monitor the situation closely and take appropriate action to tackle the problem. The Commissioner will make regular reports of further surveys to this Council's Panel on Security.