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Wednesday, February 9, 1972
The functions as set out in the White Paper were largely
acceptable to the Urban Councillors themselves provided that the resettlement
and housing functions which were at present within the sphere of the Urban
Council and the Housing Authority in its present guise were not removed
from them.
A second provision was that acceptable detailed arrangements
could be made in relation to finance and staff.
On the White Paper's proposal that the Urban Council's Standing
Orders should be subject to approval by the Legislative Council, Mr. Woo
said "this proposal is repugnant to all shades of opinion in the Urban.
Council".
The Urban Councillors felt that it was entirely inappropriate
that their internal rules of procedure should be subject to the approval
of the Legislature.
"The Unofficial Members of this Council agree that there is no
need to do so, subject to two provisos," Mr. Woo said.
The first proviso was that any essential controls should be
incorporated into the Ordinance itself, specifically, a provision should be
included to forbid ultra vires questions and debates, he added.
The second was to reserve the right of the Legislative Council to
enact special legislation in the event of any failure by the Urban Council
properly to provide for or observe regulations for its own proceedings, he
stressed.
Quoting from the White Paper, Mr. Woo said: "It must be recognised
that even to put the present proposals into full effect will involve the
resolution of many complex points of detail and difficult adjustments.
/ "During
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