ENG-1998 — Page 54

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

22

The Structure of the Administration

The HKSAR Government is organised into bureaux and departments. The bureaux, each headed by a policy secretary, collectively form the Government Secretariat. There are 15 policy bureaux of which two are resource bureaux concerned with finance and the Public Service respectively.

There are 71 departments and agencies whose heads are, with some exceptions, responsible to the bureau secretaries for the direction of their departments and the efficient implementation of approved policy. The exceptions are the Audit Commission, the independence of which is safeguarded by having the Director report directly to the Legislative Council; the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Office of the Ombudsman, whose independence is safeguarded by having the Commissioner and the Ombudsman report directly to the Chief Executive; and the Department of Justice, which is the responsibility of the Secretary for Justice.

Office of The Ombudsman

The Ombudsman is an independent authority operating in accordance with The Ombudsman Ordinance. The office was set up to give citizens a means through which an independent person outside the Civil Service can investigate and report on grievances arising from administrative decisions, acts, recommendations or omissions. The Ombudsman is directly responsible to the Chief Executive and performs important roles in redressing individual grievances against maladministration in the public sector; making bureaucracy more humane; lessening the gap between the government and the public; acting as the people's watchdog; preventing abuses; righting individual wrongs; indicating the facts when public officers are unjustly accused; improving the efficiency and quality of service in the public sector; and protecting human rights. The Ombudsman has jurisdiction over practically all government departments except the Hong Kong Police Force and the Independent Commission Against Corruption, which have their own separate bodies to deal with complaints from the public.

Besides investigating complaints, The Ombudsman can initiate direct investigations on his own volition and may publish investigation reports of public interest. Direct investigations completed include unauthorised building works in private buildings and in exempted houses in the New Territories, overcrowding relief in public housing, accommodation for foreign domestic helpers, emergency vehicular access in public and private building developments, bursting of water mains, general outpatient services, government telephone enquiry hotline services, the Fisheries Development Loan Fund, arrangements for the closure of schools due to persistent heavy rain, the issue and sale of special stamps and philatelic products, the taxi licensing system, protection of public beaches from being polluted by sewage discharges, charging of management fees in Home Ownership Scheme estates, dispensary service and handling of trade documents. Direct investigations being undertaken include the restaurant licensing system, issues pertaining to imported pharmaceutical products and the commissioning and operation of the new airport at Chek Lap Kok. Reports of all direct investigations completed are available for public scrutiny at the office's Resource Centre.

The Ombudsman has always been an advocate of a positive complaint culture and considers that complaint handling is an important management tool in achieving