TNAG-1441-FCO40-1925-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1987 — Page 212

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Select Committees

As an alternative to ad hoc groups or panels the Council may propose to the President (The Governor) that he appoint a Select Committee to scrutinise a bill following its Second Reading. The main differences between ad hoc groups and panels and Select Committees are that Select Committees, being Committees of the Council, will have statutory powers, will include Official as well as Unofficial Members, will follow formal procedures and will generally meet in public. An example is the Select Committee set

set up in the 1984/85 and 1985/86 Sessions to look into the Trial of Complex Commercial Crimes Bill and related matters.

Committee Stage and Third Reading

Whatever method is employed the objective of Unofficials and Officials alike is to achieve the most sensible and effective result. As soon as the process of discussion is completed the bill returns to the Council and proceeds in its agreed form through the committee stage (at which any amendments proposed during the process of scrutiny can be formally moved) and Third and final Reading. The bill then passes into law following the Governor's formal assent.

(The extent of activity on a typical bill is illustrated in the Annex.)

FINANCIAL CONTROL

The second major constitutional function of the Legislative Council is that of control of public expenditure. Its Finance Committee is one of two standing committees of the Council

Council (the other is the Public Accounts Committee). It is chaired by the Chief Secretary, with all 46 Unofficials as members but with only the Financial Secretary and Secretary for Lands and Works from the official side. The Committee, which generally meets in public, scrutinises all public expenditure and may vote or refuse funds as it wills. Without its sanction, no programme involving the spending of public money can commence, even though the Executive Council may have approved it in principle.

The work of the Finance Committee is firstly to conduct an examination of the annual Estimates of Government Revenue and Expenditure, for which it meets on several afternoons immediately after the Financial Secretary presents his Budget and, secondly, to approve supplementary provisions during the year, for which it meets every other Wednesday while the Legislative Councils is in session. The task of the Committee is to

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