ENG-2008 — Page 59

Constitution and Administration | 19

Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service (the disciplined services except the heads of disciplined services); and the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service (all other civil servants).

In accordance with the Basic Law, Principal Officials must be Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of the HKSAR with no right of abode in any foreign country and have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 15 years. It is also a Basic Law requirement that new recruits to the civil service on or after July 1, 1997 should normally be permanent residents of the HKSAR, save for those who fall within the exceptions provided in Articles 99 and 101 of the Basic Law.

Subject to the above policy, appointment to the civil service is based on open and fair competition which aims to recruit the best person for the job. Promotion is performance-based and not a reward for long service. As the largest employer in Hong Kong, the Government takes the lead in employing people with disabilities to help them integrate into the community and to ensure that they are given equal opportunity in recruitment to the civil service.

The Government monitors closely the turnover in the civil service for manpower planning purposes to keep manpower at a level commensurate with service demand. Overall wastage in the civil service was about 3.2 per cent in 2007-08. Given the importance of continuity at the management level, the Government has a well- established staff planning mechanism to review the succession planning for senior staff, identify and groom officers with potential for advancement to senior management and develop a pool of talent for senior positions.

The Government values regular communication and consultation with staff. There are four consultative councils at the central level: the Senior Civil Service Council, the Model Scale 1 Staff Consultative Council, the Disciplined Services Consultative Council and the Police Force Council. More than 80 consultative committees operate at the departmental level. The Civil Service Newsletter is published regularly to provide an added link with serving and retired civil servants.

Civil Service Reform

To ensure that Hong Kong continues to maintain a world-class civil service which keeps pace with changes in society, the Government has introduced a number of reforms since it released its public consultation document in 1999. The reforms cover the following five main areas:

1. Maintaining a Lean and Efficient Civil Service Establishment

The civil service establishment has been reduced by about 18.7 per cent from about 198 000 posts in early 2000 to about 161 000 at the end of March 2007 through a process of re-engineering, organisational review and outsourcing. In accordance with the 'small government' principle, the Government continues to keep a watchful eye over the size of the civil service. New posts are only created when the need is fully justified and options are not feasible. On the other hand, due consideration is given to the need for additional manpower resources for delivering