1957-1958 — Page 13

SELECT COMMITTEES

A comprehensive system of Select Committees, details of which are given in Appendix II, has been set up in order to deal with a wide variety of subjects. A good deal of responsibility is vested in these Committees, which meet at frequent intervals, in order to expedite conduct of the Authority's affairs, and it is only in cases where very large expenditure is involved, or matters of policy have to be resolved, that reference is made to the full Authority.

ADMINISTRATION

The routine administration and execution of the decisions of the Authority is carried out by the Housing Division of the Urban Services Department, under the control of the Commissioner for Housing, functioning as its principal executive officer. The salaries of all the staff, who are civil servants, are reimbursed to the Government by the Authority, plus a 30% surcharge to cover the cost of pensions, quarters, passages, office accommodation, printing, and other overheads. The full organization of the Division will eventually include sections to deal with administration, accounts, estate management, statistics, and architectural planning-so far all except the last have been set up, but staff provided in the 1958/59 estimates envisages the creation of an architectural section.

The establishment of the Housing Division is shown in Appendix III: the most important staff changes that have occurred during the period under review (in date order) are as follows:

(i) On 2nd July, 1957, Mr. NG Shun Keung was appointed as

Accountant to the Authority, vice Mr. HUIE Kon Sum.

(ii) On 16th September, 1957, Miss. J. Hua, M.S.H.M., was loaned to the Authority by the Hong Kong Housing Society for a period of six months, to take charge of letting of the North Point Estate (in mid-April 1958, she was appointed Assistant Housing Manager).

(iii) on 17th March, 1958, Mr. K. Ellison, A.R.I.C.S., was appointed

Housing Manager, and took charge of the North Point Estate. In order to prevent confusion arising, both in Hong Kong and else- where, the title of Miss E. Bedwell, F.S.H.M., was changed from 'Housing Manager' to 'Chief Housing Manager.' The post of Housing Architect was advertised simultaneously in Hong Kong, Malaya and Singapore.

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