HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
15
Mr. Suen Kai-cheong, Chairman of the Administration Select Committee, replied as follows (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chan asked whether the Council would consider the appointment of co-opted members to the Select Committees and Sub-Committees and, if so, whether there are any rules and regulations governing their roles and responsibilities and, whether co-opted members have the right to vote.
2. According to Section 35(1) of the Urban Council Ordinance, the Council may, for the better discharge of its functions under the Ordinance, appoint Committees which may include persons who are not Members of the Council.
3. Section 35(2) of the same Ordinance also stipulates that at least two-thirds of the Members of each Committee shall be Members of the Council, one of whom shall be elected as Chairman of the Committee. In other words, the Chairman of any Committee must be a Council Member.
4. Under Section 35(4) of the Ordinance, every person appointed to any committee who is not a member of the Council, and every public officer co-opted to serve on any Committee shall be a member thereof for the purposes of voting and determining a quorum.
5. It is of course a matter for the Council to decide whether it should co-opt members to serve on Committees for the better discharge of the Council's functions. But as the Council has only been newly re-constituted since April this year, it would be logical and appropriate that this new Council be given adequate time to consider which aspects of responsibilities are lacking in expertise and may benefit from the advice of co-opted Members. Furthermore, the size of our existing Select Committees will need to be taken into consideration as several Committees already have over 35 members. It is therefore considered more appropriate that the subject of co-opted Members be reviewed after we have gained sufficient experience and knowledge to enable us to arrive at a well-balanced and intelligent decision. We should not rush to a decision after we have been in operation for just over one month. Thank you Mr. Chairman.
MR. CHAN CHO-I (in Cantonese):— Thank you Mr. Chairman. Is Mr. Suen aware that there are already co-opted members in the Council's Committees as we already have co-opted members in the 'Keep Hong Kong Clean' Campaign Committee. If the answer is in the affirmative, then is he contradicting himself in his answer in paragraph (5)? The second question is related to the time table. If it is regarded as too hasty to make the decision, then when will it be appropriate to introduce co-opted members?
MR. SUEN KAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):- As far as I know there are no co-opted members in the 12 Select Committees under the Council. The Keep Hong Kong Clean Campaign is only a Working Group. The terms of reference of the Select Committees are different from those of Working Groups. Whilst the former has decision-making power, a Working Group is only there to
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
15
Mr. Suen Kai-cheong, ChairMAN OF THE ADministration Select CommittEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, Mr. CHAN asked whether the Council would consider the appointment of co-opted members, to the Select Committees and Sub-Committees and, if so, whether there are any rules and regulations governing their roles and responsibilities and, whether co-opted members have the right to vote.
2. According to Section 35(1) of the Urban Council Ordinance, the Council may, for the better discharge of its functions under the Ordinance, appoint Committees which may include persons who are not Members of the Council.
3.
Section 35(2) of the same Ordinance also stipulates that at least two-thirds of the Members of each Committee shall be Members of the Council, one of whom shall be elected as Chairman of the Commitice. In other words, the Chairman of any Committee must be a Council Member.
4.
Under Section 35(4) of the Ordinance, every person appointed to any committee who is not a member of the Council, and every public officer co-opted to serve on any Committee shall be a member thereof for the purposes of voting and determining a quorum.
5.
It is of course a matter for the Council to decide whether it should co-opt members to serve on Committees for the better discharge of the Council's functions. But as the Council has only been newly re-constituted since April this year, it would be logical and appropriate that this new Council be given. adequate time to consider which aspects of responsibilities are lacking in expertise and may benefit from the advice of co-opted Members. Furthermore, the size of our existing Select Committees will need to be taken into consideration as several Committees already have over 35 members. It is therefore considered more appropriate that the subject of co-opted Members be reviewed after we have gained sufficient experience and knowledge to enable us to arrive at a well-balanced and intelligent decision. We should not rush to a decision after we have been in operation for just over one month. Thank you Mr. Chairman.
MR. CHAN CHO-1 (in Cantonese):—Thank you Mr. Chairman. Is Mr. Sven aware that there are already co-opted members in the Council's Committees as we already have co-opted members in the 'Keep Hong Kong Clean' Campaign Committee. If the answer is in the affirmative, then is he contradicting himself in his answer in paragraph (5)? The second question is related to the time table. If it is regarded as too hasty to make the decision, then when will it be appropriate to introduce co-opted members?
MR. SUEN KAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese);-As far as I know there are no co-opted members in the 12 Select Committees under the Council. The Keep Hong Kong Clean Campaign is only a Working Group. The terms of reference of the Select Committees are different from those of Working Groups. Whilst the former has decision making power, a Working Group is only there to
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