TNAG-1483-FCO40-2037-Economic-situation-in-Hong-Kong-1986 — Page 116

87. Uniforms for the disciplined services. In 1981, in pursuit of its objective of providing manufactured goods at reasonable prices for Government departments, the Correctional Services Industries expanded its garment-making workshop, introducing machinery for making clothing by flow-line production methods which greatly enhan the

of production capacity of the workshop and facilitated better quality control. It now makes uniforms for a nun. departments including the Post Office, the Urban Services Department and the Marine Department. However, the capacity is not fully utilized partly because of resistance from the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, the Customs and Excise Department and the Immigration Department to using uniforms manufactured by the Correctional Services Industries and this is one reason for the low productivity of the workshop. Thus, the Correctional Services Industries has not been able to absorb the Government's entire demand for garments within five years as it had hoped. Resistance to using uniforms manufactured by the Correctional Services Industries is due to:

-the lack of confidence in the quality of the products;

--the belief that there would be delivery delays; and

-the insistence by three of the five disciplined services on having made-to-measure uniforms.

The Correctional Services Industries can make a limited quantity of made-to-measure uniforms but its main productive capacity is for making stock-size uniforms by flow-line production methods and on that basis it has the potential capacity to manufacture uniforms for all the disciplined services. The resistance of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, the Customs and Excise Department and the Immigration Department to using stock-size uniforms stems from their belief that made-to-measure uniforms, which cost about one third more to manufacture, are smarter in appearance and have a favourable effect on efficiency, discipline and morale. This suggests that in the implementation of the Government policy for the expansion of the Correctional Services Industries, for which the Secretary for Security is responsible, there have been inconsistencies between the investment decisions of the Correctional Services Industries and the uniform specifications of the three disciplined services that require made-to-measure uniforms. These uniforms are made by contractors and in 1985-86 the tailoring charges amounted to $6 million.

88. The principle that officers in the disciplined services should be smartly dressed is not in dispute; what needs to be considered is whether this objective could be achieved equally well with stock-size uniforms. The Correctional Services Department has been using stock-size uniforms manufactured by the Correctional Services Industries for a number of years and their officers have confirmed that such uniforms are up to standard. The British Forces use stock-size uniforms and there is no evidence that discipline has suffered as a result. The disadvantage of stock-size uniforms is that alterations may be required to make them fit more precisely but, on the other hand, quality can be controlled more easily when uniforms are manufactured by flow-line production methods. In theory made-to-measure uniforms should fit better but this does not necessarily follow when uniforms are made by a single contractor on a large scale. Quality control is more difficult for made-to-measure uniforms because each uniform is made separately. For example, between February and May 1985 the Commissioner of Customs and Excise had to return nearly 800 items of made-to-measure uniforms to the contractor for alteration. Therefore, it has not been clearly established that made-to-measure uniforms are essential for ensuring that officers of the disciplined services are smartly dressed.

89. I have recommended to the Secretary for Security that a working group should be formed to study the costing and practical problems of supplying stock-size uniforms manufactured by the Correctional Services Industries to all the disciplined services. The Correctional Services Industries needs to improve its efficiency before it can take on the task of making uniforms for all the disciplined services but I have suggested that consideration should be given to moving gradually towards the policy objective of making full use of the Correctional Services Industries for manufacturing uniforms, provided that the standards of price, quality and delivery are met. The Secretary for Security has passed the matter to the Deputy Financial Secretary for consideration as "a value for money problem" but he has made it clear that his branch is unwilling to support a change in the present system unless it could be demonstrated that there would be no drop in the standards of dress in the disciplined services.

90. Heads 41, 104, 172 and 176 - Subventions. Slow progress and delays in taking action on formulating a detailed policy on the subventing of insurance premiums and in devising a system by which the various risks can be covered at minimum cost. I have to refer once again to the unnecessary expenditure of public funds resulting from slow progress and delays in dealing with the insurance premiums subvented by the Government. In paragraphs 60-63 of my report for the year ended 31 March 1980 I drew attention to the substantial savings that could be achieved if the Government, instead of paying subventions to aided schools to cover their individual employees' compensation insurance premiums, either took out a consolidated policy to cover the risks or accepted liability itself. The Government's thinking at that time was to consider the suggestion in a broader context and in response to the Public Accounts Committee's recommendation that an early decision should be taken on the matters involved, the Government Minute of March 1981 stated that the Government was actively considering the possibility of removing the payment of various insurance premiums from the list of items eligible for Government subsidy and for the Government either to carry the risk or to cover the liability with a consolidated policy.

91. Consideration within the Government proved to be slow however, and in my report for the year ended 31 March 1984 I stated that I had reminded the Deputy Financial Secretary of the financial consequences of the failure to take more intensive action to deal with the matter. The Public Accounts Committee again examined the subject at a public hearing in November 1984 at which the Deputy Financial Secretary gave evidence and in their Seventh Report issued in December 1984 the Committee expressed their concern that what appeared to be a relatively straightforward problem.

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