1995 — Page 463

Urban Council Proceedings 市政局議事錄 All AI Reviewed

Page 463 of 485

174

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

Memorandum also states that the USD's establishment will continue to consist of civil service posts and the posts should be held by civil servants. Therefore, unless the Government has difficulties in deploying enough civil servants to fill the vacant posts or the kinds of personnel required for certain jobs are not available in the civil service grades, then the Department would create contract posts which are to be filled by contract staff. According to the Memorandum, the Government will recover the costs of the salaries and fringe benefits of all civil servants in the Urban Services Department, including staff seconded from other departments.

The fourth part of the question asks whether any USD staff, apart from those in the PIU, are seconded from other government departments and whether this arrangement is stipulated under the 1973 Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements. From my explanation just now, Members will see that according to the 1973 Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements, the establishment of the Urban Services Department mainly consists of civil service posts and contract staff will only be recruited as and when necessary. In the current total establishment of the Department, there are 16,491 (95.8%) of civil service posts and the remaining 716 (4.2%) are contract staff posts. Among the 16,491 civil service posts, 13,413 are Departmental grade posts and the people are recruited by the Departments. The remaining 3,078 posts belong to the non-departmental grades (including the Information Officer grade) and are seconded from other government departments. Details of these 3,078 posts are listed in the Appendix.

Therefore, as regards the second part of the question which asks whether it is necessary for the PIU of USD to take staff seconded from the ISD and whether this is an arrangement stipulated under the 1973 Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements, the simple answer is 'yes'.

Going back to the first part of the question, which asks about the number of PIU staff on secondment from the ISD and the total expenditure on their salaries and fringe benefits, there are at present altogether 49 staff members in the PIU of the Urban Services Department who belong to the Information Officer grade. Among these officers, 31 are seconded from the ISD and they account for 63% of the total establishment of the grade in the PIU. In 1995/96, the total expenditure of these 31 posts, including the annual salaries (calculated on the basis on the mid-point salary) and the on-costs is $17.75 million, which also accounts for 63.5% of the year's total expenditure of the total establishment of the Information Officer grade in the PIU.

The third part of the question concerns the arrangement of placing printed advertisements through the ISD and asks how much was paid by the Council to the ISD last year for this purpose and whether it is possible for the Council to negotiate directly with newspapers and magazines to seek similar or even more favourable discounted rates. Last year, the Urban Council did not need to pay anything to the ISD for the purpose of placing newspaper and magazine

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Page 463 of 485 Page 463 of 485 Page 463 of 485 174 HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL Memorandum also states that the USD's establishment will continue to consist of civil service posts and the posts should be held by civil servants. Therefore, unless the Government has difficulties in deploying enough civil servants to fill the vacant posts or the kinds of personnel required for certain jobs are not available in the civil service grades, then the Department would create contract posts which are to be filled by contract staff. According to the Memorandum, the Government will recover the costs of the salaries and fringe benefits of all civil servants in the Urban Services Department, including staff seconded from other departments. The fourth part of the question asks whether any USD staff, apart from those in the PIU, are seconded from other government departments and whether this arrangement is stipulated under the 1973 Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements. From my explanation just now, Members will see that according to the 1973 Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements, the establishment of the Urban Services Department mainly consists of civil service posts and contract staff will only be recruited as and when necessary. In the current total establishment of the Department, there are 16,491 (95.8%) of civil service posts and the remaining 716 (4.2%) are contract staff posts. Among the 16,491 civil service posts, 13,413 are Departmental grade posts and the people are recruited by the Departments. The remaining 3,078 posts belong to the non-departmental grades (including the Information Officer grade) and are seconded from other government departments. Details of these 3,078 posts are listed in the Appendix. Therefore, as regards the second part of the question which asks whether it is necessary for the PIU of USD to take staff seconded from the ISD and whether this is an arrangement stipulated under the 1973 Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements, the simple answer is 'yes'. Going back to the first part of the question, which asks about the number of PIU staff on secondment from the ISD and the total expenditure on their salaries and fringe benefits, there are at present altogether 49 staff members in the PIU of the Urban Services Department who belong to the Information Officer grade. Among these officers, 31 are seconded from the ISD and they account for 63% of the total establishment of the grade in the PIU. In 1995/96, the total expenditure of these 31 posts, including the annual salaries (calculated on the basis on the mid-point salary) and the on-costs is $17.75 million, which also accounts for 63.5% of the year's total expenditure of the total establishment of the Information Officer grade in the PIU. The third part of the question concerns the arrangement of placing printed advertisements through the ISD and asks how much was paid by the Council to the ISD last year for this purpose and whether it is possible for the Council to negotiate directly with newspapers and magazines to seek similar or even more favourable discounted rates. Last year, the Urban Council did not need to pay anything to the ISD for the purpose of placing newspaper and magazine Page 463 of 485

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Page 463 of 485 Page 463 of 485 Page 463 of 485 174 HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL Memorandum also states that the USD's establishment will continue to consist of civil service posts and the posts should be held by civil servants. Therefore, unless the Government has difficulties in deploying enough civil servants to fill the vacant posts or the kinds of personnel required for certain jobs are not available in the civil service grades, then the Department would create contract posts which are to be filled by contract staff. According to the Memorandum, the Government will recover the costs of the salaries and fringe benefits of all civil servants in the Urban Services Department, including staff seconded from other departments. The fourth part of the question asks whether any USD staff, apart from those in the PIU, are seconded from other government departments and whether this arrangement is stipulated under the 1973 Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements. From my explanation just now, Members will see that according to the 1973 Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements, the establishment of the Urban Services Department mainly consists of civil service posts and contract staff will only be recruited as and when necessary. In the current total establishment of the Department, there are 16 491 (95.8%) of civil service posts and the remaining 716 (4.2%) are contract staff posts. Among the 16 491 civil service posts, 13 413 are Departmental grade posts and the people are recruited by the Departments. The remaining 3 078 posts belong to the non-departmental grades (including the Information Officer grade) and are seconded from other government departments. Details of these 3 078 posts are listed in the Appendix. Therefore, as regards the second part of the question which asks whether it is necessary for the PIU of USD to take staff seconded from the ISD and whether this is an arrangement stipulated under the 1973 Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements, the simple answer is 'yes'. Going back to the first part of the question, which asks about the number of PIU staff on secondment from the ISD and the total expenditure on their salaries and fringe benefits, there are at present altogether 49 staff members in the PIU of the Urban Services Department who belong to the Information Officer grade. Among these officers, 31 are seconded from the ISD and they account for 63% of the total establishment of the grade in the PIU. In 1995/96, the total expenditure of these 31 posts, including the annual salaries (calculated on the basis on the mid-point salary) and the on-costs is $17.75 million, which also accounts for 63.5% of the year's total expenditure of the total establishment of the Information Officer grade in the PIU. The third part of the question concerns the arrangement of placing printed advertisements through the ISD and asks how much was paid by the Council to the ISD last year for this purpose and whether it is possible for the Council to negotiate directly with newspapers and magazines to seek similar or even more favourable discounted rates. Last year, the Urban Council did not need to pay anything to the ISD for the purpose of placing newspaper and magazine Page 463 of 485

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Page 463 of 485

174

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

The fourth part of the question asks whether any USD staff, apart from those in the PIU, are seconded from other government departments and whether this arrangement is stipulated under the 1973 Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements. From my explanation just now, Members will see that according to the 1973 Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements, the establishment of the Urban Services Department mainly consists of civil service posts and contract staff will only be recruited as and when necessary. In the current total establishment of the Department, there are 16 491 (95.8%) of civil service posts and the remaining 716 (4.2%) are contract staff posts. Among the 16 491 civil service posts, 13 413 are Departmental grade posts and the people are recruited by the Departments. The remaining 3 078 posts belong to the non-departmental grades (including the Information Officer grade) and are seconded from other government departments. Details of these 3 078 posts are listed in the Appendix.

1995 — Page 463

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