ENG-2002 — Page 48

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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Following are the highlights of reform initiatives in four main areas:

1. Entry and Exit

On June 1, 2000, the Government introduced a new entry system and terms of appointment for new recruits to increase the flexibility of its appointment system.

The Government will implement a Civil Service Provident Fund (CSPF) Scheme in place of the pension system for recruits who are offered appointments to the Civil Service on or after June 1, 2000 under the new entry terms and when they subsequently progress onto the permanent terms of appointment. The Executive Council approved in July 2001 the design principles of the CSPF Scheme. The Administration is now working on the implementation details of the scheme for operation from mid-2003 onwards.

In July 2000, the Administration introduced a Voluntary Retirement (VR) Scheme to enable staff of 59 designated grades with identified or anticipated staff surplus to retire from the service voluntarily with compensation and pension payments. About 9 800 VR applications were approved.

The Administration has introduced a Management-Initiated Retirement Scheme to provide for the retirement of directorate civil servants on permanent and pensionable terms to facilitate improvement in the government organisation since September 2000.

2. Pay

The current pay policy for the Civil Service is to offer sufficient remuneration to attract, retain, and motivate staff of a suitable calibre to provide the public with an effective and efficient service. Such remuneration should be regarded as fair by both civil servants and the public which they serve. Within these parameters, broad comparability with the private sector is an important factor in setting civil service pay. To assess the feasibility of introducing elements of performance-based rewards into the civil service system, the Government launched a pilot scheme on team-based performance reward in six voluntary departments in late 2001. The pilot scheme was completed at end-2002 and an evaluation of the scheme is being conducted.

3. Conduct and Discipline

In April 2000, the Government introduced measures to streamline the disciplinary procedures and set up an independent Secretariat on Civil Service Discipline to handle disciplinary cases in a prompt, impartial and equitable manner.

4. Training and Development

Training and development programmes are used extensively to support the implementation of the reform initiatives. The Government acquired funding of $50 million to introduce a three-year Training and Development Programme from 2001-02 to 2003-04. The programme aims to provide 90 000 additional training places, most of which are reserved for junior staff. The programme focuses on three main themes, namely, training for staff affected by the VR exercise, training to equip staff with the requisite skills and knowledge to implement the Civil Service Reform initiatives and promoting a continuous learning culture in the Civil Service.