Provisional Regional Council

The Provisional Regional Council is responsible for environmental
hygiene, public health, sanitation, liquor licensing and the provision of
recreational, sports and cultural facilities and services for about 3.05
million people in the New Territories.

The council consists of 50 members. The council's chairman and
vice-chairman are elected by members from among themselves.

Council policies are implemented by its executive arm, the Regional
Services Department, which has a staff of about 11 000 headed by the
Director of Regional Services. The council is financially autonomous,
with its main source of revenue being rates collected in the council area.
In 1996-97, this provided about 85 per cent of total revenue. The rest
comes from fees and charges, and rental income (mostly from market
stalls). In 1996-97, total revenue was $4.37 billion, while total expenditure
stood at $4.86 billion.

The council discharges its responsibilities through five functional select
committees and a Liquor Licensing Board. The five select committees are
responsible for finance and administration, capital works, environmental
hygiene, recreation and sports, and arts and culture. The Liquor Licensing
Board meets quarterly to consider contested applications.

The council has established nine geographically-based committees to
monitor the provision of municipal services and facilities. Each district
committee comprises Provisional Regional Council members and other
members co-opted from provisional district boards and the local
community.

All proceedings of the council and its committees are open to the public
except when confidential issues such as commercial arrangements
concerning financial details are discussed.

The Provisional Urban and Provisional Regional councils are represented
on several organisations, including the Hong Kong Sports Development
Board and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, the work of which
is closely related to the councils' responsibilities.

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