ENG-1978 — Page 323

240

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

April 1, 1977, to 126,500 on April 1, 1978; an increase of seven per cent. Recruitment was maintained at a high level to fill the increased establishment and the number of officers – usually called the strength - increased during the same period from 108,400 to 115,700; an increase of 6.5 per cent. Of the total strength, 97.4 per cent were local officers.

This indicates that about one person in every 17 of the estimated adult working population - or one in 39 of the total population - is employed by the government. The civil service contains a large element of labourers, semi-skilled workers and artisans of one kind or another; their posts total 36,500 and they form 28.8 per cent of the total establishment. The Hong Kong civil service is somewhat unusual in that it does some jobs which in other territories and administrations are done by people who do not belong to the civil service. Elsewhere, for example, 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 (15,800), the Public Works Department (16,900), the Urban Services Department (20,300) and the Royal Hong Kong Police Force (22,100) account for a total of 75,100 posts - or about 59 per cent of the total establish- ment of the service.

The service has grown from 17,500 in 1949 to about 69,000 in 1967 and now to more than 115,000. This reflects both the continuing expansion of existing services, in line with the increasing population, and the development of new services to meet changing needs.

The cost of the civil service is reflected in the expenditure on personal emoluments. For the year 1978-9, this is estimated to be about $2,771 million, excluding pensions. This is about 38 per cent of the total estimated recurrent expenditure for the year.

The establishment of each post in the civil service requires the approval of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council, assisted by the advice of its establish- ment sub-committee. The Finance Committee examines all requests for additional posts – both for new projects and to meet increasing workloads - to ensure that staff are properly utilised and that new posts are provided only when necessary.

Recruitment and promotions in the civil service in the middle and senior ranks are subject to the advice of the Public Services Commission. This was set up in 1950 and is independent of the government. The commission also advises the government on discipline cases. There is a full-time chairman of the commission and leading citizens are appointed as members on a part-time voluntary basis.

Overall responsibility for recruitment, promotion, conditions of service, staff rela- tions, pay, training, discipline and structure of the civil service lies with the Civil Service Branch of the Government Secretariat.

Government Secretariat

The Chief Secretary is the Governor's principal adviser on policy, the chief executive of the government, the head of the civil service and the chief government spokesman. His office, the Government Secretariat, co-ordinates and supervises the work of all government departments.

The Financial Secretary is responsible for financial and economic policy, and for the overall supervision of departments primarily involved in this field.