ENG-2020 — Page 48

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Constitution and Administration

• the Lands Department's enforcement against commercial use of public pedestrian passages and public atria in private malls;

⚫ the issue of idle flyovers and 'Bridges to Nowhere';

⚫ the Housing Department's allocation mechanism for ward offices;

• the notification mechanism and arrangements of the Housing Department and the Social Welfare Department for imprisoned singleton public rental housing tenants;

⚫ the Leisure and Cultural Services Department's arrangements for depositing layout plans

of public pleasure grounds in the Land Registry; and

• the mechanisms for verifying travel records of comprehensive social security assistance/ social security allowance applicants and recipients.

In 2019-20, the Ombudsman received 8,581 enquiries and 19,767 complaints and concluded 19,838 (95.7 per cent) of all cases received during the year and those brought forward from the previous year. A substantial number of complaints related to error, wrong advice or decision, delay or inaction.

As at 31 March, 83.6 per cent of recommendations made by the Ombudsman had been accepted by the organisations concerned.

Audit Commission

The Audit Commission, headed by the Director of Audit, is established under the Basic Law, which provides that it shall function independently and be accountable to the Chief Executive.

The Audit Ordinance provides for the audit of the government's accounts by the Director of Audit and for the submission of the director's report to the President of the Legislative Council. The director also audits the accounts of the Exchange Fund, the Hong Kong Housing Authority, five trading funds and more than 60 other funds, and reviews the financial operations of multifarious government-subvented organisations.

The director carries out two types of audit: regularity audits and value-for-money audits. Regularity audits aim to provide an overall assurance of the general accuracy and propriety of the financial and accounting transactions of the government and other audited bodies. Value- for-money audits aim to provide independent information, advice and assurance about the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which any government bureau, department, agency, other public body, public office or audited organisation has discharged its functions. Except for some public organisations where the director has statutory authority to conduct value-for-money audits, these audits are carried out according to a set of guidelines agreed between the director and the legislature's Public Accounts Committee and accepted by the government.

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