(ii) Supplementary provision in respect of the personal emoluments subheads of the approved Estimates
To examine all supplementary provisions put forward by the Government during the financial year for the creation of posts or for the regrading of existing posts involving increased expenditure, and to make recommendations on them to the Finance Committee of LegCo.
The Sub-Committee is composed of 13 Unofficial Members of LegCo, one of whom is chairman, and two Government officials.
With effect from 1.4.80, new arrangements were made for creating posts, under which a figure was specified for each department as the departmental establishment ceiling for the financial year, and Controlling Officers were authorised to create or delete posts in existing non- directorate ranks, provided that the net additional number of posts created did not cause the departmental establishment ceiling to be exceeded and provided that adequate funds were available within the personal emoluments subhead to meet resulting expenditure for the remainder of the year for both the new posts and posts already approved.
In each department a Departmental Establishment Committee (DEC) was set up to advise the Controlling Officer in the exercise of his delegated powers to create posts. Finance Branch and Civil Service Branch are represented on DECs. With a few specified exceptions, posts may only be created by a Controlling Officer after obtaining the advice of the DEC, but the Controlling Officer may redeploy approved posts freely without reference to the DEC. This procedure has speeded up the creation of essential posts and has enabled the emphasis of the Sub-Committee's work to be shifted towards regular meetings to discuss the reviews of departmental establishments prepared by the Finance Branch. The Sub- Committee still considers requests for the creation and deletion of posts at directorate level and for the creation of all new ranks.
The size of the Civil Service has expanded rapidly in recent years. During the 10-year period from 1971-72 to 1981-82, the total establishment increased by 61 per cent from 94,417 to 151,809 posts. During 1984-85 the establishment
increased by a further 3,207 posts, or 1.85 per cent. At 1.4.85, for the year 1985-86, the establishment showed a further growth of 4,849 posts, an increase of 2.74 per cent over the preceding year. This reflected the implementation of a no growth policy by the civil service except where it is essential to provide staff for new facilities and where staff cannot be provided by redeployment.
In 1983-84, $8,335 million or 27 per cent of Government's total revenue of $30,400 million was spent on direct and indirect emoluments of the civil service; this figure increased to $9,640 million or 27 per cent of Government's total revenue of $35,933 million in 1984-85. Membership of the Sub-Committee is reported at Appendix IV.
Public Works Sub-Committee From the earliest days of British administration in Hong Kong, there has been a committee with Unofficial Members on it to review the progress of public works. At the beginning of this century, the Government was proposing wide-ranging schemes for improving road communications between Kowloon and the New Territories and further into Guangdong Province; and Unofficial and Official Members of the Public Works Committee of the Legislative Council, as it was then known, took an active part in the consultative process.
For the financial year 1902-03, for instance, the Public Works Committee was consulted on expenditure on on-going and new projects amounting to $1,279,189. Projects under construction in that year included the Central Law Courts, estimated to cost $50,000, and Western Market at an estimated cost of $30,000.
Nowadays, the progress of public works is watched over by the Public Works Sub-Committee of the Finance Committee. For 1984-85, special note was taken of the restriction on new starts on projects arising both from the budgetary limit on commitments for new works laid down by the Financial Secretary and on the capacity of the works department to carry out planning and supervision of works, and it is estimated that the spending on on-going projects in the Public Works Programme will be about $6,800 million.
In dollar terms, public works items form the lion's share of items of Government expenditure looked at by
the Finance Committee each year, and the Public Works Sub-Committee plays an important part in examining the detailed proposals and justifications for each project.
The Public Works Sub-Committee is chaired by the Financial Secretary, and members of the Finance Committee who are particularly interested in public works elect to sit on it. During the year under report, there were 18 Unofficial Members on the committee. On the Official side, besides the Financial Secretary, the Secretary for Lands and Works is the only full member. The heads of departments responsible for building development, engineering development (including highways), New Territories development and water works, as well as a representative of the Finance Branch of the Government Secretariat, attend each meeting to answer any questions members may have.
The Public Works Sub-Committee meets about once a month, after LegCo meetings. All projects for which Government wants to start detailed design and planning, or for which Government wishes to enter into a financial commitment, must be put to the Sub-Committee. If the item is agreed, it is referred to the Finance Committee for formal endorsement. Once a project has started, it may be necessary to change the estimate of the cost of the works involved and, again, the Sub-Committee is consulted and its approval sought.
Many of the Unofficials who choose to sit on the Public Works Sub-Committee have a business background, and they are quick to point out where they feel proposed works do not provide value for money. Other members with backgrounds in community work, education, medicine and members of District Boards seek to ensure that the social value, as well as the financial value, of the proposals is given due weight.
Each item to be considered at a Sub-Committee meeting is supported by a paper prepared by the Government, setting out the details of the proposals and the justification behind them. At the end of each financial year, the Sub-Committee publishes an annual report in which all the papers they have considered are reproduced.
Members often question the validity of the policy of providing a certain type of facility and ask for an information paper stating why such a
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