TNAG-0812-FCO40-1017-Allegations-of-bribery-and-corruption-in-Hong-Kong-1978 — Page 115

CONFIDENTIAL ## 機密

attitude can be more pronounced in a disciplined force, as authority is always allocated and delegated within a comprehensive code of orders and instructions at all levels. Therefore, if control information indicates that objectives are being met, then there is the natural tendency to assume that a particular unit must be efficient. But clearly, it was this failure to recognise the reality behind the information filtering through from below, and over-reliance on the forms of control, which proved critical in the past.

5.14 This contradiction between the forms and the substance of control could,

perhaps, have been largely avoided had there been, in many Government departments, a wider acceptance and practice by senior officers of reaching down (see Chapter 3). Attitudes developed, however, in which reaching down became a formal process and a form of "protocol" emerged which militated against any reaching down which was not planned, pre- arranged and notified. A greater degree of informality is needed, because in carefully planned and prepared visits, senior officers could be presented with evidence of apparent control and efficiency whilst the substance of the true position could elude them.

5.15 Determination on the Part of Senior Officers

Looking back to the contradiction between the form and the substance of control, reaching down is accordingly not some thing which senior officers should go through perfunctorily. In the many interviews conducted by the assignment staff, the point was made that accountability can only become a viable proposition if senior officers are determined to ask the right questions, no matter how awkward, of their junior supervisory officers until they, the senior officers, are fully satisfied. If they are not satisfied, they should not hesitate to invoke disciplinary procedures. Failing that, there will only be cynicism towards both the concept of accountability and the determination of Government to run efficient and effective organisations. Already there is a widespread belief that Government employment is equivalent to a "iron rice bowl", unbreakable and never empty. It has been possible for some Government servants to do the minimum to get by and to "keep their noses clean" by avoiding both responsibility and calling attention to situations which might reflect upon them adversely. Within the Government system, it has been possible for some officers to make life as easy as possible for themselves until, albeit slowly, the systems of selection and promotion take them one step further up the hierarchy. It is recognised that there is a marked tendency at the supervisory and junior management levels to regard promotion as a welcome relief from the hurly burly of field activities and that at this level there is a tendency to regard promotion as an opportunity to retreat into air-conditioned comfort and to leave one's subordinates to make do as best they can. This attitude has led to a fundamental weakness in Government and it can only be overcome by much more aggressive "reaching down" by middle and senior level staff. Allied to this more aggressive attitude to "reaching down" must be a more aggesssive attitude towards weeding out incompetence whilst at the same time rewarding hard work and ability.

G.F. 323

CONFIDENTIAL

/5.16 ...

機密