Provision of papers by the Administration

• The following arrangements regarding provision of papers by the Administration for discussion at Panel meetings were recommended by the Committee on Rules of Procedure and endorsed by the House Committee on 18 January 2002. The arrangements have also been agreed between Members and the Administration -
  • a.
    the Administration is required to provide papers at least 5 clear days before the relevant Panel meeting for items with at least three weeks' notice;
  • b.
    the Administration is required to provide papers at least 2 clear days before the relevant Panel meeting for items involving time critical proposals e.g. urgent financial proposals, or where the need to consult Panels does not arise until a very late stage;
  • c.
    the Administration is required to provide papers as soon as practicable for items with less than three weeks' notice; certain policy initiatives which cannot be released prior to the approval of the Executive Council; and matters involving commercially sensitive information; and
  • d.
    papers should reach the LegCo Secretariat by 11:00 am if the deadline for provision of papers falls on a day before a public holiday.
• If the required papers are not received by the agreed deadline, the Chairman may, after consulting the Panel, remove the relevant item from the agenda. If the Chairman decides to leave the item on the agenda, the Chairman should consult the Panel at the meeting whether the item should be discussed or removed from the agenda, and allow time for a short discussion on the matter (agreed to at the House Committee meeting on 26 November 2004).
  The expression "clear days" as a period of time excludes the day of making a request to the Administration for provision of papers, the day of the relevant meeting and intervening public holidays, and ends at 5:00 pm on the last day of that period. [RoP 93(b)]