BACKGROUND NOTE
THE STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT IN HONG KONG
1.
The Governor of Hong Kong is advised by an Executive Council (Exco) of 14 members, 6 of whom are Government officials,
and the remainder are so-called unofficial members from outside
the Government. Legislation is approved by the Legislative Council (Legco) comprising the Governor, 20 official members and
24 unofficial members.
2.
Unofficial members of both Councils are all appointed by the
Governor and there is, from time to time, criticism that they are not truly representative of the community. Certainly in the past there has tended to be a preponderance of rich businessmen among them. However, for some time now the Governor has been appointing new members from a progressively wider social back- ground and the membership of Legco and Exco is now more representative than it was 10 years ago; the process is continuing.
3. The Urban Council (Urbco),
public health and recreational Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. and half are appointed by the Governor. It has no official
members. Until 1973, it had much broader functions, including responsibility for housing within the urban area, but it lost
these responsibilities when the Government decided that such functions were better handled by centralised government agencies,
whose responsibilities extend throughout the whole territory.
is responsible for matters of
facilities in the urban areas of
Half of its 24 members are elected
4. Although this reduction in functions was, and continues to be,
a source of complaint by many members of the Council, the success achieved by the Government through its centralised agencies, particularly its housing programme, is strong evidence that the change was justified. In any case, the Urban Council has by no means lost all say in such matters: there are, for example, eight Urban Councillors among the twenty members of the Government
Housing Authority
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