ENG-1991 — Page 50

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

unsubstantiated. During the same period, 811 enquiries were also received, some of which could lead to formal complaints being lodged to the office at a later date. Compared with 1990, both the number of complaints and the number of enquiries made to the office have increased. Such increases indicate that there has been a growth of public awareness in the existence of the office, something which is important in the development of the Ombudsman system in Hong Kong.

In the cases received during the year, the areas which have attracted substantial numbers of complaints related to delay, error or wrong decision and negligence or omissions. Other common areas of complaint related to rudeness, ineffective control, disparity in treatment or unfairness and faulty procedures. In terms of complaints by department, the Housing Department, the Building and Lands Department and the Hospital Services Department have received most complaints, followed by the City and New Territories Administration, the Immigration Department, the Government Secretariat, the Inland Revenue Depart- ment, the Transport Department and the Legal Aid Department. These departments have a lot of contact with members of the public and are naturally more vulnerable to complaints.

To cope with the increasing caseload of the office, and to enable a more even internal distribution of workload, the office has been re-organised as from August 1, 1991, by the setting up of two new sections, namely, an Administration and Screening Section and an Investigation Section. Not only will the re-organisation help improve the office efficiency, but it will also bring about an annual saving of approximately $400,000 in terms of salary alone.

Office of the Director of Audit

The necessity for an audit presence was recognised in the very early days of Hong Kong and the Audit Department is in fact one of the oldest departments, an Auditor-General having been first appointed in 1844, only three years after cession of the territory.

Presently, the audit of the accounts of the Hong Kong Government is carried out under the terms of the Audit Ordinance enacted in 1971, which provides for the appointment, security of tenure, duties and powers of the Director of Audit, for the submission of annual statements by the Director of Accounting Services, for the examination and audit of those statements by the Director of Audit, and for the submission of the latter's report thereon to the Governor as President of the Legislative Council. Certain specific duties relating to the examination, audit, reporting and certifica- tion of the government's accounts, are prescribed in the ordinance and wide powers are given to the director regarding his access to books, documents and records, and the explanations which he may require. Moreover, as in the performance of his duties and the exercise of his powers the director is not subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority, considerable discretion is given to him in the conduct of his inquiries and he is free to report publicly as he sees fit. Therefore, the director functions independently of the Administration.

The audit of all the government's accounts is carried out by the Director of Audit and his staff. He also audits the accounts of the Urban Council, the Regional Council, the Vocational Training Council, the Housing Authority and more than 50 statutory and non-statutory funds and other public bodies, as well as reviewing the financial aspect of the operations of the multifarious government-subvented organisations in Hong Kong.

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