ENG-2010 — Page 67

Constitution and Administration | 25

comparability with private sector pay. The revised starting salaries took effect on October 1, 2010.

In addition to salaries, civil servants are eligible for fringe benefits depending on their terms of appointment, rank, salary point, length of service, and other eligibility rules. The Government has been taking steps over the years to modify the granting of fringe benefits to civil servants in line with present day conditions. These included scrapping or exercising stricter control of allowances to new recruits.

3. Improving the Entry and Exit System

The 'New Entry System' for civil service recruits introduced on June 1, 2000 and modified on July 1, 2010 gives the Government greater flexibility in making. appointments, while the new retirement benefits system, called the Civil Service Provident Fund Scheme, provides retirement benefits for officers appointed on new entry terms.

A 'Management-initiated Retirement Scheme' is in place to allow the Government, for the purpose of organisational improvement, to initiate the early retirement of directorate officers.

4. Providing Diversified Training

The Civil Service Training and Development Institute, under the Civil Service Bureau, formulates training policies and gives support to bureaux/departments in training and development matters. The institute focuses on four core service areas: senior civil servants' development, national studies programmes, human resource management consultancy service and promotion of a continuous learning culture in the civil service.

Special programmes, conducted by professionals and academics, are offered to senior civil servants to help them develop as leaders. Programmes for attachment to, and exchange with, overseas organisations and the Mainland's municipal and provincial governments in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangdong, have also been arranged for civil servants to gain wider exposure.

To give civil servants a fuller understanding of national affairs, the institute arranges national studies programmes at the Chinese Academy of Governance, Foreign Affairs University, Tsinghua University, Peking University and Sun Yat-sen University. Seminars on national affairs and the Basic Law are held in Hong Kong separately for civil servants at different levels.

The institute also gives advice to bureaux and departments on how to manage staff performance, develop competency profiles, enhance management capabilities and prepare officers for succession.

In addition, for promoting continuous learning among civil servants, the training resources available on the e-learning portal, Cyber Learning Centre (CLC) Plus, have been continuously enriched and updated.