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Structure of the Administration

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

The Administration of the Hong Kong Government is organised into branches and departments. The branches, each headed by a Secretary, collectively form the Government Secretariat. There are currently 12 policy branches, two resource branches concerned with finance and the Public Service, and a branch with special responsibility for co-ordinating measures to implement the terms of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the question of Hong Kong. There is also an Office of the Deputy Chief Secretary, which co-ordinates work on issues which span the responsibilities of two or more branches and undertakes specific tasks in relation to constitutional development.

The policy branches whose secretaries report directly to the Chief Secretary are: Administrative Services and Information, City and New Territories Administration, Education and Manpower, Health and Welfare, Housing, Lands and Works, Municipal Services, Security and Transport. The Civil Service Branch, a resource branch, the General Duties Branch and the Office of the Deputy Chief Secretary also come under the aegis of the Chief Secretary. The policy branches whose secretaries report directly to the Financial Secretary are: Economic Services, Monetary Affairs and Trade and Industry. The Finance Branch, a resource branch, is also responsible to the Financial Secretary. The head of the Finance Branch is the Deputy Financial Secretary who, despite his title, is of the same rank and status as the other Secretaries.

With certain exceptions, the heads of government departments are responsible to the branch secretaries for the direction of their departments and the efficient implementation of approved government policy. The exceptions are such bodies as the Audit Department and the Independent Commission Against Corruption, whose independence is safeguarded by their director and commissioner, respectively, reporting directly to the Governor; the Judiciary, which is the responsibility of the Chief Justice, and the Legal Department, which is the responsibility of the Attorney General. There are currently 59 departments and agencies in this structure.

To assist in the co-ordination of government policy, there have been established under the umbrella of the Chief Secretary's Committee six policy groups which bring together branch secretaries in related programme areas. The four which are chaired by the Chief Secretary are the Community Affairs; Constitutional Affairs; Lands, Works, Transport and Housing; and Social Services Policy Group. The Legal Affairs Policy Group is chaired by the Attorney General, and the Finance Group is chaired by the Financial Secretary.

Foreign Relations

The Role of the British Government and the Political Adviser

Because of Hong Kong's status as a dependent territory, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is constitutionally responsible to the British Parliament for the actions of the Hong Kong Government and he has authority to give directions to the Governor of Hong Kong. In practice, however, such formal directions have not been issued in living memory, and Hong Kong conducts its affairs with a high degree of autonomy in all domestic matters. The relationship between London and Hong Kong is also essentially one of co-operation. For example, one important task routinely undertaken by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is to ensure that Hong Kong's interests and views (which are not always identical with those of the United Kingdom) are properly considered within the British Government machinery, particularly when new policies are being formulated by other Whitehall departments.

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