ENG-1982 — Page 344

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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governing the structure and pay of the Civil Service below directorate level, on the salary and structure of individual grades, on employee benefits relevant to the determination of the Civil Service remuneration package, and on machinery for consultation between. management and staff. The commission completed its eighth report which deals with the pay and structure of over 60 middle management and technical grades and the provision of long service increments. It also continued its overall review of Civil Service pay policy and completed its review of overtime and related allowances. A separate independent body, the Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service, advises the Governor on the structure, pay and conditions of service of directorate officers. During the year, the committee completed its eighth overall review of the directorate.

Advisory Committees

The network of government boards and committees, of which there are more than 320, is a distinctive feature of the system of government in the territory which seeks to obtain, through consultation with interested groups in the community, the best possible advice on which to base its decisions. Thus advisory bodies of one kind or another are found in nearly all government departments.

These advisory boards and committees may be classified into statutory bodies (formed under an ordinance) and non-statutory bodies or ad hoc or permanent groups. According to their areas of activities these bodies may be divided into four categories: 'appeal' boards (such as the Appeals Board (Education) or the Board of Review, Long Term Prison Sentences); committees which deal with the interests of a particular industry (such as the Construction Industry Training Authority or the Fish Marketing Advisory Board); committees which advise on particular areas of government policy or public-interest (such as the Social Welfare Advisory Committee or the Special Committee on Land Supply); and local committees concerning themselves with the welfare of districts, areas and neighbourhoods throughout the territory, including district fight crime committees, area committees and the recently established district boards which advise the government on all matters affecting the well-being of the people in their district.

Government officials and members of the public are both represented on these committees - the members of the public being appointed on account of their specialist knowledge or expertise, or through their record or interest in contributing to the life of the community. Increasing importance has been attached to the contribution of unofficials to the formula- tion and execution of government policies and in order to fully utilise their potential, a systematic and regular monitoring of the composition and effectiveness of these bodies is being carried out. The government also broadens the cross-section of representation and urges the constant inflow of new ideas by maintaining, wherever possible, a reasonable turnover of membership.

Language

Both Chinese and English are the official languages of Hong Kong. English is widely used in the fields of commerce, banking and of course international trade. Cantonese, a south China dialect, is the mother tongue of most of the population and is widely used on radio, television and cinema. Mandarin and a number of other Chinese dialects are understood by a limited number of people. Other foreign languages used by the mercantile community are not widely understood, though trained interpreters speaking Japanese and many European languages are available.