TNAG-2217-FCO40-3184-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1991 — Page 37

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j)

Annex A.

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Committees should meet at set times determined by the need to avoid overlap with other committees.

A diagrammatic description of my proposal is at

RECOMMENDATION F. STRENGTHEN COMMUNICATION BETWEEN MEMBERS & CONSTITUENTS. In my preamble, I suggested that public support is the most important element in securing an enduring and vital legislature. In my view this support will be earned only if we invest in building strong links between the electorate and LegCo.

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We cannot yet be sure what demands constituency duties will place on elected Members. Experience elsewhere suggests they will be considerable. For example, the average British MP will handle about 1,500 constituency cases a year and will spend half of his 73 hour working week on constituency duties. His congressional counterpart will deal with 10,000 constituency cases a year.

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The British MP is given an allowance of HK$405,000 with which to meet his constituency and other obligations. This will buy him a full time secretary and a part time Research Assistant. In addition he will be provided with an office at Westminster and his party may provide him with an office and an agent in his constituency. The US Congressman will receive an allowance of HK$6.37M out of which he may employ up to 18 staff. In addition he will have an office in Congress and in his District.

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Which model, British MP or US Congressman, seems appropriate for Hong Kong? Given that the Hong Kong Constituencies will have an average size of over 600,000 people compared to 580,000 in the USA and 60-70,000 in the UK, the American model would seem more relevant, if lavish. Against this yardstick the currently considered provision of an allowance of HK$360,000 per annum seems woefully inadequate, particularly in view of the fact that no office accommodation is contemplated.

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The Administration will no doubt balk at providing more. But they should welcome this opportunity to dispense with the structures established as a substitute for representative Government some years ago including the District offices, the District Sub Offices and their considerable staffs. At the same time representative Government renders obsolete the City and New Territories Administration HQ and OMELCO's central clearing house for public complaints at Swire House. Such radical changes seem justifiable on more than simple cost grounds: the duplication of parallel structures of communication diminishes the status of elected representatives.

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For similar reasons representative Government also renders obsolete the elaborate structure of consultative committees established by the Hong Kong Government as an alternative to democratic structures in the days before representative Government.