5.19.
5.20.
5.21.
consider value for money, efficiency and effectiveness, as well as the more traditional auditing task of ensuring the legality of past government spending.
Could this experience be of value to Hong Kong as well?
A Suggested Reform in relation to Parliamentary Scrutiny
The Changing Face of Whitehall, again:-
"One way of reshaping Whitehall would be to toughen
Parliamentary scrutiny procedures, as a complement to civil service reform proper. Tougher scrutiny might yield gains in a number of areas: it might improve policy-making through greater openness and better informed public debate, and also diminish the likelihood of improper or illegal instructions from ministers. A modification of the government's interpretation of ministerial responsibility to allow readier access to civil service testimony would be valuable in strengthening parliamentary scrutiny. Increasing the role and size of the National Audit Office might offer an alternative to procedural change. "36
Given proposed changes to Legco, I believe that the above too could yield useful tips for Hong Kong. I would like to see the Working Group report quickly on which British models could bring benefit to Hong Kong.
C. PUBLIC SERVICE MORALE AND 1997: LOYALTY TO WHOM?
Questions of civil service morale and the effect on recruitment are crucial between now and 1997. This thought brings me to the next topic which the Working Group could consider. The basis was laid by the Governor in October 1990 when he said in Legco that:-
"A well-motivated and committed civil service işye:
essential to the success of Hong Kong in the 1990s and beyond.
11
Doubtless, that is true; but in the context of 1997, it hides a series of complicated issues. In Changing Civil Servants' Values, a problem is described by Lui Ting Terry in the following way: -
"If the future SAR legislature comprises directly elected
politicians who are representative of the interests of their electorate in Hong Kong, then individual civil servants, in serving their political masters, would be obliged to take Hong Kong people's interests as their overriding concern. Where there are conflicts between the interests of China and those of the SAR, they would perceive that the latter should take precedence. On the
མས་ནས་་་ནས་ར་
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.