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Constitution and Administration

During the 2019-20 legislative session from October 2019 to July 2020, the council held 30 meetings, two of which were the Chief Executive's question and answer sessions. Members asked 123 oral questions on the government's work with 599 supplementary questions, and another 403 written questions. The council passed 23 bills. It also passed five motions moved by the government under the positive vetting procedure to seek the council's approval to either make or amend subsidiary legislation. On subsidiary legislation subject to the negative vetting procedure, the council completed scrutinising 212 of the 221 items of subsidiary legislation tabled in 2019-20, with the remaining nine items to be scrutinised in 2020-21.

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee consists of all council members except the President of the Legislative Council, with its Chairman and Deputy Chairman elected from among its members. The committee is responsible for scrutinising and approving public expenditure proposals put forward by the government as well as examining the annual Estimates of Expenditure presented by the Financial Secretary to the council during proceedings relating to the Appropriation Bill.

The committee appoints two subcommittees, the Establishment Subcommittee and Public Works Subcommittee, whose memberships are open to all members of the Finance Committee.

The Establishment Subcommittee examines and makes recommendations to the Finance Committee on the government's proposals to create, redeploy and delete directorate posts, and those that seek to change the structure of civil service grades and ranks.

The Public Works Subcommittee examines and makes recommendations to the Finance Committee on the government's proposals about capital works projects.

In 2019-20, the Finance Committee held 45 meetings to scrutinise financial proposals, eight special meetings comprising 21 sessions to examine the Estimates of Expenditure and one meeting to receive the Financial Secretary's briefing on the Budget. The committee deliberated on and approved 86 financial proposals, namely 43 public works proposals costing $177 billion in total, 13 establishment proposals and 30 other funding proposals involving a total commitment of $285.6 billion.

Public Accounts Committee

The Public Accounts Committee considers the Director of Audit's reports on the government's accounts and the results of the director's value-for-money audits of government departments and other organisations that are within the purview of public audit. It may invite government officials, representatives of public organisations or any other persons to attend public hearings. to give explanations, evidence or information. The committee's seven members are appointed by the President of the Legislative Council according to an election procedure determined by the House Committee.

In 2019-20, the committee held 17 public hearings and 11 closed meetings to examine the Director of Audit's report on the government's accounts for the year ended 31 March 2019 and his Report Nos 73 and 74 on value-for-money audits. The committee gave its conclusions and

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