ENG-1967 — Page 358

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

THE PUBLIC SERVICE

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The Public Service provides the staff for all government depart- ments, sub-departments and other units of the administration, and at April 1, 1967, the total number of posts in the Public Service (or its establishment, as it is generally called) was 73,190.

This indicates that approximately one person in every 50 in Hong Kong is employed by the government. There is a large propor- tion of labouring staff, and just over 33,000 of the total establish- ment of the Public Service are labourers, semi-skilled labourers or artisans of one kind or another. The Public Service of the Hong Kong Government is somewhat unusual in that it includes the staff for certain activities which in other territories and administra- tions are carried out by people who do not belong to the Civil Service. For example, in other territories staff for hospitals, public works and utilities, urban cleansing and public health, and the police, are not always servants of the central government. In Hong Kong, the establishments of the Medical and Health Department (9,617 posts), the Public Works Department (9,486 posts), the Urban Services Department (12,325 posts), and the Police Force (12,791 posts) account for a total of 44,219 posts or a little more than 60 per cent of the total establishment of the Service.

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The size of the Service has doubled in the last 10 years and quad- rupled since 1949. This reflects not only the continuing expansion of existing services, in line with the continuing expansion of the population, but also the development of new and more diverse services to meet the changing needs of the population. However, in recent years, there has been some slowing down of the rate of expansion and it now stands at about three per cent per annum.

The cost of the Public Service is reflected in the expenditure on personal emoluments. For the financial year 1967-8 the estimated expenditure on personal emoluments, excluding pensions is about $649 million. This represents approximately 48 per cent of the estimated recurrent expenditure, or between 33 per cent and 34 per cent of the estimated total expenditure, included in the Budget. Notwithstanding the Service's expansion, the percentage of recur- rent expenditure is lower than it has been for a number of years.