ENG-2008 — Page 40

4 Constitution and Administration

procedure. The scrutiny of 189 items was completed, with 13 of them amended by resolution of the council. The scrutiny of the remaining 21 items continued in the next session. In addition, the council completed the scrutiny of 24 items of subsidiary legislation, which had been tabled in the previous session. The Government moved 16 motions through the positive vetting procedure to either make new or amend existing subsidiary legislation, and all were passed by the council. On bills, the council passed all 35 bills in the 2007-2008 session.

On Members' motions, two motions to amend the Rules of Procedure and one motion to amend the terms of reference of panels were passed. One motion to invoke the council's powers under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance was not passed. The council also debated 55 members' motions not intended to have legislative effect. In addition, with the permission of the President, an adjournment debate was held to discuss an issue of urgent public importance, namely, the Report by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on the Public Consultation on Constitutional Development and on whether there is a need to amend the methods for selecting the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and for forming the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2012. Another adjournment debate was held for the purpose of raising an issue concerning public interest, namely, the predicament faced by the live poultry trade, to elicit a reply from a designated public officer.

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee consists of all members of the Legislative Council except the President. The committee's Chairman and the Deputy Chairman are elected from among its members. The committee normally meets in public on Friday afternoons to scrutinise and approve public expenditure proposals put forward by the Government. Its work includes the scrutiny of the annual Estimates presented by the Financial Secretary to the Legislative Council during the proceedings related to the Appropriation Bill, which sets out the Government's annual expenditure proposals for the following financial year. During the 2007-2008 session, the committee held 35 meetings and examined 68 financial proposals.

There are two subcommittees under the Finance Committee: the Establishment Subcommittee and the Public Works Subcommittee, which also conduct meetings in public. Membership of both is open to all members of the Finance Committee.

The Establishment Subcommittee examines and makes recommendations to the Finance Committee on the Government's proposals for the creation, redeployment and deletion of directorate posts, and for changes to the structure of grades and ranks in the Civil Service. During the 2007-2008 session, the subcommittee held eight meetings and examined 18 Government proposals.

The Public Works Subcommittee examines and makes recommendations to the Finance Committee on the Government's expenditure proposals under the Capital Works Reserve Fund for projects in the Public Works Programme and building projects carried out by or on behalf of subvented organisations. During the 2007-