ENG-1991 — Page 52

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

The Role of Political Adviser

The Political Adviser is a senior member of the British Diplomatic Service, seconded to the Hong Kong Government principally to advise the Governor and the Chief Secretary on matters concerning Hong Kong's relations with China. His office is part of the Hong Kong Government. Following extensive involvement in the Sino-British negotiations which culminated in the Joint Declaration, the Political Adviser's office, in conjunction with the Constitutional Affairs Branch, is closely involved in the work of implementing the Joint Declaration. In addition, the Political Adviser's office continues to offer advice, and, in some cases, to co-ordinate action on many other matters, notably in promoting the wide range of contacts between Hong Kong Government departments and their counterparts in Guangdong Province, particularly in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.

Close and effective cross-border co-operation has developed in such diverse areas as immigration, crime, smuggling, transport, environment, customs, postal services and telecommunications. The Political Adviser's office is also one of the channels of communication between the Hong Kong Government and foreign and Commonwealth missions in Hong Kong. These missions do, however, deal directly with the relevant departments of the Hong Kong Government over most day-to-day matters.

Public Service

The Public Service provides staff for all government departments and other units of the Administration. With Hong Kong's centralised form of government, the Public Service operates a wide range of services which in many countries would be administered by other public authorities. These include public works and utilities, public health, education, fire services and the police force. The departments in charge of these areas, namely, the Lands and Works group of departments (23 621 posts), the Municipal Services group of departments (27919), the Education Department (6988), Fire Services Department (7 836), and the Royal Hong Kong Police Force (33 226) account for 50 per cent of the establishment of the whole Public Service. As at July 1, 1991, the total strength of the service was 191 027 or about 6.8 per cent of Hong Kong's work force. Over 98 per cent are local officers. The service is structured into some 440 grades or job categories in the administrative, professional, technical and manual fields, with about 1 200 ranks or job levels.

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Overall responsibility for the management of the Public Service lies with the Civil Service Branch of the Government Secretariat. The branch deals with such matters as appointments, pay and conditions of service, staff management, manpower planning, training and discipline. It is also the focal point for consultation with the principal staff associations. The branch was re-organised in June 1991 with a view to enhancing communication with departments. Under the new structure, five departmental divisions were set up, each responsible for the full range of personnel management matters of a group of departments. In addition to the departmental divisions, there are three functional divisions dealing with service-wide issues such as manpower planning, training, staff relations and pensions.

Recruitment and promotion to the middle and senior ranks of the Public Service are subject to the advice of the Public Service Commission which is independent of the government. The commission has a full-time chairman and leading citizens serving as members.

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