ENG-2019 — Page 47

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Constitution and Administration

The Chief Executive is advised on civil service appointments, promotions and discipline by the Public Service Commission, an independent statutory body set up under the Public Service Commission Ordinance. The Chief Executive is also advised on civil service pay and conditions. of service by three independent bodies: the Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service, which covers directorate officers excluding judges, judicial officers and the disciplined services but including the heads of the disciplined services; the Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service, which covers the disciplined services except the heads of the disciplined services; and the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service (SCCS), which covers all other civil servants.

The government's civil service pay policy is to offer sufficient remuneration to attract, retain and motivate staff of suitable calibre to provide the public with an effective and efficient service, and to maintain broad comparability between civil service and private-sector pay. Pay comparisons are achieved through three types of surveys, namely the Pay Level Survey, the Starting Salaries Survey and the Pay Trend Survey.

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 for 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, 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 5 per cent in 2018-19. 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 the size of the civil service closely for prudent financial management. The civil service grew mostly between 1 and 1.9 per cent annually from 2007-08 to 2017-18, and increased by 3.7 per cent in 2018-19 so as to effectively implement the new policies and initiatives introduced by the current-term government as well as to tie in with the commissioning of various large-scale cross-boundary infrastructure projects. The civil service establishment in 2019-20 is estimated to increase by 1.8 per cent.

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.

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