TNAG-2217-FCO40-3184-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1991 — Page 38

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36.

Removal of obsolete structures will ensure that the proper and only channel of communication between the electorate and government becomes the elected representative. We could find no more effective way of entrenching representative Government and of building popular support for the legislature.

37.

RECOMMENDATION G. REVIEW LEGCO'S RESOURCES. The under resourcing for individual Members' constituency duties suggested above is matched by a lack of the right resources for LegCo collectively, the most significant shortcoming being over provision for research.

38.

OMELCO's current establishment is 160 in addition to the Clerk to the Legislative Council's establishment of 50. combined budget in 1991/92 will be above HK$50M or $794,000 per Member (including official Members and the 3 non-LegCo Members of OMELCO).

39.

This compares with about HK$762,000 per Member of the House of Commons in Westminster, HK$474,000 per Member of the House of Commons in Canada and HK$11.2M per Member of Congress. Support Staffs per Member in OMELCO is 3.4 compared with 4, 6 and 22 at Westminster, Ottawa and Congress, respectively.

40.

Such comparisons suggest that LegCo, although at the

low end of the range, does not do too badly. However,

a)

b)

c)

LegCo does not enjoy economies of scale

does not provide offices for Members (the above figures do not include the capital costs of offices and buildings in Westminster, Ottawa and Congress);

Westminster has long been considered under-resourced;

d)

LegCo seems to have a high administrative tail to front end teeth, possibly in order to meet the bureaucratic demands of the Administration.

41.

e)

LegCo must cover the same range of domestic issues as larger legislatures.

Moreover, LegCo does not have access to independent research as does other legislatures. Westminster, Ottawa and Congress, for example employs large research staffs who work from lavish libraries and they are all backed by think tanks, most privately funded. In addition their committees are provided with budgets of their own. A Westminster Departmental Standing Committee will typically spend HK$62,680 p.a. on research and travel and HK$1.44 Million on printing and will be supported by 3 Clerks (i.e. Secretaries). Compare this with congressional committees which may employ up to 30 and have budgets of between $8M and $32M each.