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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 23rd May 1973
[THE COLONIAL SECRETARY] Statements
The team have also developed further ideas on structural changes. They have, in consequence, taken a close look at the organization and working methods of the Central Government machine, as it became apparent that some changes in these will be required if the full benefits of recommended improvements to processes are to be obtained. The object of the Consultants' proposals, taken as a whole, is to create a smaller but highly powered central machine with a more positive role for the initiation and formulation of policies and programmes, and for the monitoring, control and co-ordination of their implementation. But an essential corollary of these proposals is to reaffirm and strengthen the authority and responsibility of Heads of Departments for the executive and effective operation of their departments, and for the formulation and implementation of departmental policies. At the same time, the departments will continue to contribute expert opinions and ideas to the process of policy formulation, amendment and revision at the Govern- ment level.
I would like to stress that the recommendations made by the Con- sultants are not a single package, or set of proposals, which need to be accepted or rejected in toto. They are, rather, a series of new ideas on ways of doing things, to be tried out and implemented if they are found to be workable and effective. Some have already been adopted with success, some have been adapted, and others will be tried in future. The Consultants consider that some of the changes will take years, rather than months, to work through the system. Others, as I have said, have already been introduced and are proving of positive value in the transac- tion of Government business.
The report, which is based on massive documentation spread over the past year, supplies us, as its title implies, with a framework within which we can adapt our administrative machinery to take the stresses which increasingly complex problems will impose upon us in the future.
The proposals which we have evolved with the Consultants and which form the basis of their report will, moreover, give us valuable guidelines for the future development and planning of our management systems to meet the changing needs of the years ahead. The report's present proposals are not finite and will, of course, have to be modified and amended as occasion arises, for in Hong Kong's circumstances flexibility and adaptability are as important in Government as in the trade and industry which sustain us.
In conclusion, Sir, may I say that, in my view, we have been very fortunate in the composition and calibre of the team of Consultants which has been working with us during the past twelve months. Their whole exercise has been a valuable one which will, I believe, with
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