203. The Crown, as employer, has two procedures available to it in the case of pensionable officers aged 45 and over [apart from the specific grounds stated in section 6(c), (d) and (e) of the Pensions Ordinance]. For officers below 45 years of age, only C.R. 59 is available. This distinction in the treatment of officers by reference to an arbitrarily chosen age is difficult to justify on logical grounds; and, in my opinion, it is wrong in principle for there to be any distinction in treatment between officers over 45 years of age and those below that age. It is undesirable both from the officer's point of view and also the Government's. Surely the older officer will face greater difficulties in finding other employment than a younger man; yet in practice the present arrangements give greater security to the latter. From the point of view of the Government as employer, it should not find its hands tied in retiring any officer when there are cogent reasons for doing so, but in circumstances in which it may be undesirable to disclose those reasons under the C.R. 59 procedure.
204. From time to time, various reasons have been given for the fact that civil servants must have greater security of tenure than other members of the community. It is said that they do not have the same opportunities for making money on the stock market or by investing locally; that public service is a vocation; and that security of tenure, a reasonable salary and a pension at the end of a reasonable period in which to earn it, enables the public servant to get on with his job so that the service may function effectively.
205. In their reports submitted to the Governor in 1961, the Advisory Committee doubted whether such considerations should carry much weight today; and I feel that the whole question should be re-examined in the light of present-day conditions. For example, I was informed that half the senior posts in Government service are occupied by officers on contract terms. This is not confined to expatriate officers. Doctors graduat- ing from Hong Kong University are offered contract terms. The contracts of all these officers may be terminated on notice or salary in lieu. They have no right to expect any greater security of tenure than is conferred by their contracts. Another factor against which the security of employment must be viewed is the nature of the functions directly undertaken by the Hong Kong Government. By virtue of the unique constitutional and political situation of Hong Kong, the central government carries on many activities which would, in larger territories and under different constitutional arrangements, be performed by regional authorities or state corpora- tions the employees of which are not civil servants. The following are examples of Hong Kong Government activities which, elsewhere, would be performed by other public authorities:-
Hong Kong Government
Marine Department
Medical and Health Department Urban Services Department Public Works Department:
Buildings Ordinance Office Highways Office
Waterworks Office Education Department
Radio Hong Kong
Royal Hong Kong Police Force
Fire Services Department
Post Office
Kowloon-Canton Railway
Alternative Public Authorities
Harbour or Port Authorities Hospital Authorities
City, Borough or County Councils
City, Borough or County Councils
Water Authorities
School Boards
State Corporation e.g. B.B.C.
}
County or City Councils
In the U.S.A. this was recently made a State Corporation State Corporation e.g. British Rail.
206. There may well be other departments where the major part of their activities are, under different con- stitutional arrangements, performed by bodies other than the Crown. Recently the Government itself has changed the method of control over higher technical education with a consequential change in the status of teachers engaged in this field. The Hong Kong Technical College was administered by staff of the Education Department. The Hong Kong Polytechnic, which was established by Ordinance as an independent body corporate, uses the same premises and largely the same staff, initially on secondment from the Education Depart- ment; but an education officer who transfers to the Polytechnic will cease to be a Crown servant.
207. I recommend that, having regard to conditions in Hong Kong, it would be in the public interest and in the interest of all members of the public service, if C.R. 59 were revoked and if section 8(2) of the Pensions Ordinance were amended by the deletion of the words "after he attains the age of 45 years”. Consequential amendments to Colonial Regulations would be necessary by the deletion of all references to compulsory retire- ment under C.R. 59. If this suggestion were adopted Colonial Regulations 54-66 would continue to provide a code for dealing with disciplinary offences, and where proceedings under C.R. 56 or C.R. 57 gave rise to valid grounds for compulsory retirement and not for punishment, the provisions of the Pensions Ordinance would
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