ENG-2017 — Page 48

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Constitution and Administration

In accordance with the Basic Law, public servants serving in all government departments should be permanent residents of the HKSAR, save for those who fall within exceptions provided in Articles 99 and 101 of the Basic Law. This requirement applies to civil servants recruited on or after 1 July 1997.

Appointment is based on open and fair competition. The government ensures persons with disabilities and ethnic minorities, like other applicants, will continue to have equal access to job opportunities in the civil service. Promotion is performance-based.

The government monitors staff turnover closely for manpower planning purposes. Overall wastage in the civil service was about 4.7 per cent in 2016-17. A well-established mechanism is in place to review succession planning for senior staff members, identify and groom officers with potential for advancement to senior management, and develop a pool of talent for senior positions.

The government monitors closely the size of the civil service for prudent financial management. Due consideration is given to providing additional manpower needed to deliver new and improved services where justified. The civil service grew mostly between 1 and 1.5 per cent annually from 2007-08 to 2016-17, and is estimated to increase about 2 per cent in 2017-18.

The government maintains close communication with staff and consults them on issues of concern through various channels, including an established staff consultation mechanism which consists of four staff consultative councils at the central level, namely the Senior Civil Service Council, the Model Scale 1 Staff Consultative Council, the Disciplined Services Consultative Council and the Police Force Council, and some 90 consultative committees at the departmental level. A regularly published Civil Service Newsletter provides an added link with serving staff and retirees.

Exemplary staff performance is recognised through various commendation schemes to motivate civil servants to provide quality service to the public. The schemes include the Secretary for the Civil Service's Commendation Award Scheme that commends individuals with consistently outstanding performance, and the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme that commends achievements in service excellence on a departmental or team basis. On the other hand, staff misconduct is handled under an established disciplinary mechanism for punitive and deterrent purposes. To instil a culture of probity in the civil service, the Civil Service Bureau and the ICAC jointly run an ethical leadership programme, and each bureau and department is required to appoint a directorate officer to coordinate efforts to attain that goal.

The Civil Service Training and Development Institute formulates policies on training and development and on performance management. It organises training programmes and seminars for civil servants on leadership and management, language and communication, national affairs and the Basic Law. The institute also advises bureaus and departments on how to improve staff performance, develop competency profiles, enhance leadership capabilities and prepare officers for succession. Through its e-learning platform, Cyber Learning Centre Plus, the institute provides civil servants with ready access to training resources to promote a culture of continuous learning.

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