ENG-2008 — Page 62

22 Constitution and Administration

required to draw up a plan for the bureau/department to achieve the programme's aim. The ethics officers are assisted by the Civil Service Bureau and the Independent Commission Against Corruption who visit and hold seminars/workshops for them and help to prepare them to carry out their tasks as ethics officers. The officers also have access to a dedicated intranet and an online resource centre serving as a communication platform and repository on integrity-related matters.

Official Languages

Chinese and English are the official languages of Hong Kong. It is the Government's policy to develop and maintain a civil service that is proficient in both written Chinese and English and conversant in Cantonese, Putonghua and spoken English. While major documents of public interest issued by the Government are available in both official languages, correspondence with individual members of the public is always in the language appropriate to the recipient.

The Official Languages Division of the Civil Service Bureau monitors the implementation of the Government's language policy in the civil service. It offers a wide range of language support services to government bureaux and departments. Besides providing translation, interpretation, drafting and editing services, the division also facilitates the effective use of official languages in the civil service by providing language research and advisory support. This includes providing telephone hotlines on language use; producing writing aids and reference materials, such as guidebooks on official Chinese writing and glossaries of terms commonly used in government departments; and organising language-related activities like thematic talks and competitions. Furthermore, a quarterly publication on language and culture, entitled Word Power, is distributed to all departments. Some of the publications and reference materials produced by the division are available on the Civil Service Bureau website, www.csb.gov.hk.

Government Records Service

The Government Records Service (GRS) manages government records and provides a range of records and archival management services.

GRS develops and oversees the implementation of records management policies and systems. It gives guidance and provides training to government departments on best practices in records management. It operates two records centres for storage of inactive government records and an ISO 9001:2000 certified microfilm centre providing microfilming services for government departments.

With the growing need for proper management of electronic records, GRS is currently studying the feasibility of managing multi-media records and materials through electronic record-keeping systems.