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4.

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

The work of the Regional Council is also largely in the areas of public hygiene, culture and recreation, providing residents in the New Territories with services similar to those of the Urban Council.

The Urban Council became financially autonomous in 1973. About 75

per cent of its income is derived from rates while the remainder comes from licences and other fees. Similarly the Regional Council derives its income from fees and rates charged in the region under its jurisdiction. The Urban and Regional Councils are both financially autonomous institutions, each having control over its expenditure within the limits of its revenue and

resources.

Discussion on the Basic Law by members of the Urban Council

As mentioned in the introduction, the discussions have been mainly on the existence and development of the second tier of government. The areas covered are:-

4.1 Should the Urban and Regional Councils continue to function as independent bodies, or merge to become a single municipal services body, or disintegrate into a number of municipal services bodies?

(a) The Urban and Regional Councils merging into a single municipal

services body—

As the terms of reference of the Urban and Regional Councils are very similar, both working for the provision and improvement of urban services concerning public hygiene, culture and recreation, if the two are united into a single body, manpower and resources will be more efficiently deployed, and management and administration better coordinated. Furthermore, a merged second tier will help simplify the structure of government and result in better communication and coordination with central government departments and the various district advisory bodies. This will enhance administrative efficiency.

With the development of new towns, a single municipal services body will help bring together communities which have different traditions and sense of value due to geographical division. As members of the merged body will come from different districts, the seeking of interests from narrow geographical view points will be reduced. The removal of geographical barrier will foster awareness among the people that they are members of one society.

A merged Urban and Regional Council will have greater influence on the central government's urban services policy and thus be better able to improve on the provision of urban services.

Some members pointed out that the public may think the above proposal for a merged urban services body is for the purpose of taking over authorities from the Legislative Council, and a merged body may

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be too large and bureaucratic to respond quickly to public demands. The fact is a municipal services body is an executive body and the Legislative Council a central law-enacting organ: The two of them are different in nature and function and should not be confused one with the other. The proposal is not for the purpose that the future urban services body should replace the Legislative Council as the centre of authority. It is extremely unlikely that the former will be wrongly regarded as a replacement for the latter. As regards indifference to public demands, it can be rectified by restructuring the executive body. Councillors elected from the various districts will have a better understanding of district needs and be better able to render the right services.

(b) The Urban and Regional Councils as independent bodies-

The Urban and Regional Councils now constitute the second tier of government. Their continuing to exist as independent bodies will ensure continuation of government so as not to cause great dis- turbances to its transfer in 1997. Besides, the future regional body may be developed with reference to the independent functioning of the Urban and Regional Councils. But as these two bodies have only just started to develop, the value of their ways of functioning needs to be verified. As to the argument that two separate bodies can cater for the needs, traditions and values of communities of different geographical divisions, a merged urban services body can, through elections by different constituencies, ensure participation by different communities and cater for their needs through the setting up of regional committees. A second tier consisting of two separate bodies will cause disparity of urban services policies, for example on public hygiene, and of administrative standards. The system also results in duplication of manpower, resources, facilities and work. In other words, manpower, capital and resources will not be efficiently utilized. The work between the Urban and Regional Councils is presently divided rather randomly and with unnecessary geographical consideration. For example, Cheung Chau, notwithstanding its propinquity to the Hong Kong Island, is under the control of the Regional Council.

(c) The Urban and Regional Councils disintegrating into a number of

urban services bodies-

If there is a number of urban services bodies in Hong Kong, each will be responsible for a smaller area and simpler in structure. These bodies will be easier to manage and as they are closer to the public, will respond more promptly to public demands. Furthermore, an in- creased number of urban services bodies will mean more channels of participation for the public. The fact is a unified body can be managed as efficiently and respond as promptly to public demands, through