ENG-1985 — Page 44

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

23

statutory bodies which give advice to the government (such as the Board of Education); non-statutory bodies which give advice to a head of department (such as the Airport Facilitation Committee); non-statutory bodies which give advice to the government (such as the Transport Advisory Committee); and committees which are executive in nature (such as the Chinese Temples Committee).

Government officials and members of the public are represented on these committees. Well over 3 400 members of the public are appointed to serve on a total of 384 boards and committees, and some serve on more than one of these advisory bodies. These unofficial members are 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 formulation and execution of government policies and, in order to utilise their potential to the full, a systematic and regular monitoring of the composition and effectiveness of these bodies is carried out. The government also broadens the cross-section of representation and encourages the constant inflow of new ideas by maintaining, whenever possible, a reasonable turnover of membership.

The Executive

Role of the Chief Secretary

The Chief Secretary is the principal adviser to the Governor on matters of policy. He is the chief executive of the Hong Kong Government. Together with the Financial Secretary and the Attorney General, he is one of the three officers of the Executive with the right of direct access to the Governor.

The Chief Secretary has a very small personal staff. He exercises direction primarily as head of the Government Secretariat, the central organisation comprising the secretaries of the policy branches and their staff. Since 1902, when the office of Lieutenant-Governor lapsed, the Chief Secretary (or his predecessor, the Colonial Secretary) has deputised for the Governor during his absence. He is the leading official member of the Legislative Council and the chairman of the Finance Committee.

Role of the Financial Secretary

The Financial Secretary is responsible for the fiscal and economic policies of the Hong Kong Government, and is an ex-officio member of both the Executive and Legislative Councils. He is, in addition, a member of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council, and chairman of the Public Works Sub-Committee of the Finance Committee. As the government officer with primary responsibility for Hong Kong's fiscal and economic policies, the Financial Secretary oversees the operations of the Finance, Monetary Affairs, Trade and Industry, and Economic Services Branches of the government.

The Financial Secretary is responsible under the Public Finance Ordinance for laying before the legislature each year the government's Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure. In his capacity as an official member of the Legislative Council, he makes a speech each year outlining the government's budgetary proposals and moving the adoption of the Appropriation Bill which gives legal effect to the annual expenditure proposals contained in the Budget.

He is also personally responsible under a number of ordinances for carrying out various executive duties such as setting levels of certain charges and remunerations and overseeing the accounts of certain trust funds and statutory bodies.