ENG-1985 — Page 40

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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Within the urban area, the Urban Council constructs and manages all public sporting facilities such as swimming pools, parks, playgrounds, indoor and outdoor stadia, tennis courts, football grounds, squash courts, basketball courts. In 1985, the council took over responsibility for the recreation and sports services in the urban areas previously run by the Recreation and Culture Department. The council manages museums, public libraries and the major cultural venues and multi-purpose facilities, including the City Hall, Queen Elizabeth Stadium and Hong Kong Coliseum. It also promotes cultural performances and runs a comprehensive programme of public entertainments throughout the urban areas. i

The council's chief executive is the Director of Urban Services who controls the operations of the Urban Services Department with a staff of around 18 000. The director is charged with carrying out the council's policies and implementing its decisions.

The council has been financially autonomous since 1973 and during 1985-6 was spending some $1,800 million on council-controlled activities and projects. The council is financed by a share of the rates which provides about 75 per cent of its income, the balance coming from various licence fees and other charges.

The council consists of 30 members, 15 elected from district constituencies and 15 appointed by the Governor. It meets in public once a month when it passes by-laws, deals with finances, formal motions and questions on its activities. The council's Standing Committee now conducts most of its business in public and the Liquor Licensing Board and the Libraries, Food Hygiene and Clean Hong Kong Committees have opened their meetings to the public.

The routine business of the council is conducted by 13 select committees and 15 sub-committees. Simultaneous interpretation is available at all meetings where required.

The council has individual or collective ward offices spread throughout the urban areas where councillors deal with and answer complaints from the public on a great variety of matters. Although the majority of matters raised lie outside the council's jurisdiction councillors are often able to assist and obtain redress where appropriate from the various government departments and public bodies.

Regional Council

A new Regional Council will be set up on April 1, 1986. Two main purposes lie behind the decision to establish this council. The first is to achieve a more efficient provision of services to cope with the future increase in population in the new towns in the New Territories. The second is to rectify the anomalous situation whereby a wide range of services was provided to the public in the urban areas by the Urban Services Department under the direction of the Urban Council, while similar services were provided to the public in the non-urban areas by the New Territories Services Department under the direction of the central government.

To allow some working experience to be gained before the Regional Council came into being, a Provisional Regional Council was established in April 1985 for a period of one year. In addition to advising the Governor on planning, inaugural and operational matters relating to the establishment of the Regional Council, the Provisional Regional Council also advised the newly formed Regional Services Department on environmental matters, public health, sanitation, hygiene, recreation and culture in the non-urban areas. The Provisional Regional Council consisted of 24 members, 12 of whom were appointed, nine were indirectly elected from the district boards in the non-urban areas, and three (the chairman and two vice-chairmen of the Heung Yee Kuk) were ex-officio members.