Chapter 2: The Civil Service

The Civil Service employs about 5.1 per cent of Hong Kong's labour force. It provides staff for all government departments and other units of the administration. At December 31, the total strength of the Civil Service was 174 500 (excluding about 1 500 ICAC and judicial officers), with staff distributed among some 405 grades and 1 136 ranks.

Overall policy responsibility for the management of the Civil Service lies with the Civil Service Bureau of the Government Secretariat. It includes policies on matters such as appointments, pay and conditions of service, staff management, manpower planning, training and discipline. The bureau is also the focal point for consultation with major staff associations and its General Grades Office manages the 28 500 executive, clerical and secretarial staff. Management of the Civil Service is governed mainly by three important instruments: the Public Service (Administration) Order, the Public Service (Disciplinary) Regulation, and the Civil Service Regulation, all made with the authority of the Chief Executive.

The Public Service Commission is an independent statutory body set up in 1950 under the Public Service Commission Ordinance (Chapter 93 of the Laws of Hong Kong) to advise the Chief Executive on appointment, promotion and disciplinary matters in the Civil Service. The Government is also advised on matters relating to pay and conditions of service by four independent bodies, the Standing Committees on: Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service (senior officers); Judicial Salaries and Conditions of Service (the judicial officers); and Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service (the disciplined services); plus the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service (all other civil servants).

In accordance with the Basic Law, Principal Officials must be Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of the HKSAR with no right of abode in any foreign country and have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 15 years. It is also a Basic Law requirement that new recruits to the Civil Service on or after July 1, 1997, should normally be permanent residents of the HKSAR, save for certain exceptions, for example to fill professional and technical posts. The Government administers a long-established policy of localisation of the Civil Service, which gives preference in recruitment to candidates who are permanent residents of the HKSAR. Other candidates are considered when there is no fully qualified and suitable permanent resident candidate and where permissible under the Basic Law.

Subject to the above policy, appointment to the Civil Service is based on open and fair competition which aims to recruit the 'best person for the job'. Promotion is performance-based and is not a reward for long service. As the largest employer in Hong Kong, the Government takes the lead in employing people with a disability to help them integrate into the community and ensure that they are given equal opportunity in recruitment to the Civil Service.

The Government monitors closely the turnover in the Civil Service for manpower planning purposes. Overall wastage of the Civil Service in 2000-2001 was 3.1 per cent. Given the importance of continuity at the management level, the Government has a well-established staff planning mechanism to review succession planning of senior staff and to identify and groom officers with potential for advancement to senior management, in order to develop a pool of talent for senior positions.

The Government values regular communication and consultation with staff. There are four consultative councils at the central level: the Senior Civil Service Council, the Model Scale 1 Staff Consultative Council, the Disciplined Services Consultative Council and the Police Force Council. More than 80 consultative committees operate at the departmental level. A Civil Service Newsletter is published quarterly to provide an added link with serving and retired civil servants.

Staff commitment and contributions are recognised in various forms including appreciation letters, commendations and honours or awards. Long Service Travel Awards, Long and Meritorious Service Awards and retirement souvenirs are given to long-serving staff. A Customer Service Excellence Award Scheme was launched in 2001 to recognise the efforts and achievement of departments/bureaux and their staff in providing quality customer service to the public and to further promote a customer-focused culture in the Civil Service.

In March 1999, the Government released a Consultation Document on Civil Service Reform. The main objective was to put forward proposals to modernise the administration of the Civil Service so as to make it more flexible and prepare staff to face the changes and increasingly demanding challenges in the years ahead and meet the demands of society. As a result of feedback received during the consultation, the Government has drawn up more detailed proposals in the various policy areas for detailed discussion with the Staff Sides and department/grade management through working groups with staff representatives.

Following are the highlights of reform initiatives in four main areas:

On June 1, 2000, the Government introduced a new entry system and terms of appointment for new recruits to increase the flexibility of its appointment system.

The Government will implement a Civil Service Provident Fund (CSPF) Scheme in place of the pension system for recruits who are offered appointments to the Civil Service on or after June 1, 2000 under the new entry terms and when they subsequently progress onto the permanent terms of appointment. The Executive Council approved in July 2001 the design principles of the CSPF Scheme. The Administration is now working on the implementation details of the scheme.

In July 2000, the Administration introduced a Voluntary Retirement (VR) Scheme to enable staff of 59 designated grades with identified or anticipated staff surplus to retire from the service voluntarily with compensation and pension payments. Some 11 000 staff submitted their applications by the deadline in October 2000. About 9 350 applicants have so far been approved, with the majority departing in 2001.

The Administration has introduced a Management-Initiated Retirement Scheme to provide for the retirement of directorate civil servants on permanent and pensionable terms to facilitate improvement in the government organisation since September 2000.

To bring Civil Service benchmarks more in line with the private sector, the Government implemented new starting salary levels for both civilian and disciplined services grades with effect from April 1, 2000. The new salaries apply to all recruits and serving staff on transfer. With effect from the same date, starting salaries were delinked from the annual civil service pay adjustment and will be subject to the benchmark review which will be conducted every three to four years.

On June 1, 2000, the Government introduced a new fringe benefits package which includes revised leave earning rates, a new leave passage arrangement and non-accountable housing benefits for recruits.

To introduce progressively elements of performance-based rewards into the Civil Service system, the Administration launched a pilot scheme on team-based performance rewards in six voluntary departments in late 2001.

In April 2000, the Government introduced measures to streamline the disciplinary procedures and set up an independent Secretariat on Civil Service Discipline to handle disciplinary cases in a prompt, impartial and equitable manner.

The Administration has issued guidelines to tighten rules on the award of increments and reinforce the application of Civil Service Regulations on stoppages and deferrals of increments for officers with sub-standard performance at work. They came into effect on October 1, 2000.

Training and development programmes are used extensively to support the implementation of the reform initiatives. In February 2001, the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council approved funding of $50 million for the Government to introduce a three-year Training and Development Programme from 2001-02 to 2003-04. The programme provides 90 000 additional training places, focusing on training for staff affected by the VR exercise, training to equip staff with the requisite skills and knowledge to implement the Civil Service Reform initiatives, as well as to inculcate a new service and continuous learning culture.

The changes the Government has introduced will provide the necessary flexibility and capability to allow the Civil Service to respond quickly to community needs; to provide a more motivating and positive work environment; and to further a performance-based, service-oriented management culture.

The Government will continue to implement the approved reform initiatives with care and sensitivity, taking full account of the views of civil servants as well as the community at large.

The Civil Service Training and Development Institute (CSTDI), the Government's central training and development agency, provides training and advisory services to all departments and bureaux through offering a wide spectrum of training and development programmes.

Much effort has been devoted to promoting a lifelong learning culture in the Civil Service. In April 2001, a three-year Training and Development (T&D) Programme was launched to help civil servants develop a self-learning attitude and acquire enhanced skills and updated knowledge to meet changing service requirements. Under the programme, a service-wide Learning Symposium and Exhibition was organised that month and a Training Incentive Scheme launched to offer financial incentives to civil servants to embark on self-initiated and employment-related external studies.

The programme also provides learning opportunities for staff in support of various Civil Service Reform initiatives and in relation to the implementation of the VR Scheme. In this regard, the momentum to help redeployment and job transition of staff affected by the VR exercise was sustained during the year. Over 400 seminars/courses on various areas including information technology, languages, office procedures, counselling skills for supervisors and mindset change were offered to more than 9 000 staff.

The patrons of the Cyber Learning Centre (CLC) continued to increase. It now has a total of 20 000 registered users. In 2001, the CLC was upgraded to provide a more user-friendly environment for web learning. More self-learning resources and tools were developed to cater to the different needs of staff.

Management training programmes continued to be organised for officers at different managerial levels. These included various management programmes conducted in Hong Kong and overseas, the Leadership in Public Sector Programme and the Leadership Enhancement and Development Programme conducted by the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University.

All government departments were required to prepare an annual training and development plan so that their departmental strategic objectives and corporate goals could be more effectively supported by T&D activities. A guide was issued in November to facilitate departments in preparing and improving their plan.

To enhance civil servants' understanding of the systems and development of the Mainland, a series of visits and courses was organised. Efforts were also made to enhance civil servants' knowledge of the Basic Law through a Singing Contest, a Story Writing Competition, and other promotional courses and activities.