the 17-month period up to 31 December 1981, over 90% of these cases had been processed. Thereafter, the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Unit dealt almost exclusively with the statutory cases, that is person ho were diagnosed as suffering from the disease after the operative date of the legislation, and these were estimated number only 250 a year, an estimate that later proved to be about right. The reduced workload of the Unit had already been anticipated and, in a staff review of the Labour Department conducted by the Finance Branch of the Government Secretariat in 1981, it was disclosed that there were no manning scales for the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Unit and it was recommended that the future staff requirements should be reviewed by the Department after December 1981 when most of the ex-gratia cases would have been dealt with.
146. In early 1985 I carried out my own enquiries into the staff establishment of the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Unit and noted that the previously recommended departmental review of the staff requirements had not taken place and that the establishment of the Unit had remained at eight even though the number of cases had fallen from 1 300 during the first year of the scheme to an average of 360 a year in the three-year period from January 1982 to December 1984. Accordingly, I recommended that the departmental review of the establishment should be carried out without further delay.
147. The Commissioner for Labour accepted that a 'formal review of the establishment of the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Unit had been outstanding but claimed that the surplus staff resources had been re-deployed usefully to other work, such as coping with the increased workload arising from the changes made in the provisions of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance. However, the Commissioner could not produce any satisfactory documentary evidence to show that the re-deployment had actually taken place and it seems that the surplus staff in the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Unit, which had cost $1 million for the three-year period up to 31 December 1984, was being used as a hidden staff reserve.
148. After receiving my report the Commissioner for Labour arranged in April 1985 for an internal review to be carried out on the staff establishment of the Unit and this resulted in a recommendation for the establishment to be reduced from eight to four. However, the Finance Branch of the Government Secretariat was not entirely satisfied with this recommendation and it is now intended to conduct an independent review to see whether it is possible to reduce the staff establishment of the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Unit to two.
149. Arising from my observations on this subject I have addressed the Deputy Financial Secretary on the desirability of conducting service-wide establishment reviews of Government departments in order to ensure as far as possible that there are no hidden surplus staff resources in departments as a result of changes in the activities or changes in the workload of the activities undertaken by departments. The Deputy Financial Secretary has informed me that the Finance Branch of the Government Secretariat has carried out establishment reviews in a number of departments in recent years but, in order to make the best use of his resources, he has under consideration a proposal to redeploy the resources available in the Finance Branch to enable the carrying out of an enhanced programme of value for money studies, as experience has shown that this latter approach is more effective in raising productivity and restraining growth in departmental establishments.
150. Head 100 - Marine Department. Subhead 603. Plant, vehicles and equipment. In May 1978 the Director of Marine entered into a contract for the supply of four water-jet propelled launches at a cost of $650,000 for his Small Craft Licensing Section to be used for specific duties, including revenue collection duties, within typhoon shelters and congested anchorages. An essential requirement for the vessels was good manoeuvrability which would enable them to move close to the shore and to negotiate the confined areas in which they would be operating. The water-jet propulsion system was specified because this was thought to provide the required low-speed manoeuvrability and had the added advantage of eliminating the risk of damage from floating objects and grounding that is associated with propeller-driven craft. Recently, I carried out a review of the operational effectiveness of these launches which disclosed some weaknesses in the pre-contract evaluation of the water-jet propulsion system and in the arrangements for ensuring that the crew would be provided for the boats when they were delivered.
151. The water-jet propulsion system is used in some Police launches and whilst the Director of Marine was aware of the numerous problems associated with the system, he underestimated and failed to fully investigate all of them before specifying a water-jet propulsion system for his own launches. Consequently, a number of modifications had to be made which delayed the delivery of the vessels for between two and four months. Furthermore, the Director of Marine did not take action to satisfy himself that the water-jet propulsion system would be suitable for the particular environment in which the launches were intended to operate. After the four boats were delivered between July and September 1979 it was found that the water-jet propulsion system was unsuitable for operating close inshore and in typhoon shelters because of the amount of floating plastic and other debris which was sucked into and damaged the propulsion system necessitating repairs that took the boats out of service for considerable periods of time. Also, a persistent defect in the jet unit steering deflector system made it difficult to manoeuvre the boats in typhoon shelters, an essential specification in the contract. Accordingly, it was decided in 1981 to convert all four launches to conventional propeller drive, a modification that was carried out between November 1981 and May 1983. I have calculated that the cost of conversion, repair and extra maintenance arising from the decision to specify the water-jet propulsion system for the boats amounted to $500,000. The water-jet units were sold in 1983 for less than $200.
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