1963 — Page 54

of 194

Page 54 of 194

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

to a substantial number of staff of the Urban Services Department, and they are also reminded by circular from time to time of the importance of behaving courteously to the public.

The Honourable F. S. LI pointed out that procedural delays in the granting of licences could lead to corruption. He suggested that the Government Organization and Methods Office should look into the problem of administrative overlapping.

Members of this Council have long recognized the connexion be- tween delays in the issue of licences and opportunities for corruption, and it was as a result of questions by Members in 1956 that a sub- committee which included Dr. LEE and Dr. Woo was appointed to study ways to reduce the time taken between application for, and the issue of, licences. Amongst other things this committee laid down the time limits for the various stages which an application must go through. Three years later a sub-committee consisting of Dr. BELL, Mr. Y. K. KAN and Mr. WATSON dealt with the subject very fully in the course of an examination of the functions of the Delegated Member, and the time limits recommended by that sub-committee are still in force within the Urban Services Department.

In cases where reference must be made to other Government depart- ments more time is required before a licence can be granted, and it may be that the Organizational Surveys Unit, which is scheduled to in- vestigate our licensing procedures, can suggest ways to shorten the period of time required. I will draw the Unit's attention to this aspect of their investigation when the time comes.

The Honourable F. S. LI mentioned a second potential source of corruption, namely, the fear of a licensee that a prosecution may be brought by an inspecting officer. I take this opportunity of repeating what was said on this same subject by Mr. Wilfred WONG: licensees are under no obligation to anyone provided they adhere to regulations. The question of how to impress this fact upon licensees is being studied in the department.

Mr. SALES stressed the importance of recruiting and training specialist staff well in advance of their need. As Members are aware, it is the normal practice in Government to make annual forecasts of staff requirements for the following year. Such consideration com- mences in the summer, and the new posts finally approved by Finance Committee are included in estimates which come into effect in the following April. Recruitment to new posts can be put in hand once the posts have been provisionally agreed by the Establishment Com- mittee, although no commitments may be entered into before 1st April. In addition, when it is known that recruitment takes a long time posts can be included in earlier estimates, with a token financial provision,

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to allow time for recruitment. This procedure enables departments to recruit staff in good time, even if there are training periods involved, provided that there is adequate forward planning. I would assure Members that the future needs for staff are carefully watched in the Urban Services Department, and that there should not normally be any question of a shortage of staff hampering the Council's work. The situation is rather different, however, when new projects are conceived involving the creation of grades of staff not formerly found in the Government service. Then the conditions of service for the new grades have to be thrashed out before recruitment, and this may take a very long time.

Dr. Woo drew attention to the promotion prospects and salaries of the lowest grades of our staff. The department has no authority to introduce changes, since the scales are applicable to similar grades throughout the Government service and are determined by Government. The recent survey of Government wages by Mr. G. C. HAMILTON con- cluded that gross wages in industry appeared to exceed Government gross wages by about 10% for unskilled labourers and about 11% for semi-skilled staff and artisans, although this was offset to some extent by better fringe benefits in Government. As Members are probably aware, Government is at present considering the implications of the Hamilton Survey. I cannot give any information as to any conclusions that have so far been drawn, or how the staff of this department will be affected by any decision that may be made.

The promotion delay between Labourer and Ganger arises from the fact that a Ganger can supervise relatively large squads of Labourers, and consequently the present ratio of Ganger posts to Labourer posts is 1 to 22. As Dr. Woo correctly said, promotions can only be made when vacancies occur.

Mr. FUNG Hon-chu referred to uncovered or poorly covered refuse containers seen in the streets prior to collection of their contents. This is largely the fault of the private refuse collector, and the departmental staff have made efforts over the past year or more which, I think, have brought about some improvement. We are not letting it rest there. It has been noticed that even the bamboo covers used by the depart- ment are not ideal, and the staff are trying to find a suitable standard cover which will both exclude flies and prevent spilling as far as possible. Should we be successful, it would be our aim to encourage the use of such covers by private refuse collectors as well as providing them for departmental labourers.

Mr. Hilton CHEONG-LEEN drew attention to street-littering and the department's three-week "Anti-litter" campaign which recently con- cluded. He asked for a year-round campaign.