For discussion EC(96-97)14
on 8 May 1996
ITEM FOR ESTABLISHMENT SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE
HEAD 21 - HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNORS ESTABLISHMENT
HEAD 142 - GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT : OFFICES OF THE CHIEF SECRETARY, THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY AND THE POLITICAL ADVISER
HEAD 143 - GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT : CIVIL SERVICE BRANCH
HEAD 144 - GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT : CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS BRANCH
HEAD 151 - GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT : SECURITY BRANCH
Subhead 001 Salaries
Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the following changes in establishment-
Head 21 - His Excellency the Governors Establishment
- the creation of one supernumerary post of Administrative Officer Staff Grade C (AOSGC) (D2) for the period up to the end of June 1997;
- the transfer to this Head of the posts of Political Adviser, Deputy Political Adviser and Assistant Political Adviser (which are remunerated on the UK Diplomatic Service rates of pay), one directorate post of AOSGC (D2) and of $2,209,320 in the notional annual mid-point salary (NAMS) value for eight non-directorate posts from Head 142 - Government Secretariat : Offices of the Chief Secretary, the Financial Secretary and the Political Adviser;
- the transfer to this Head of the post of Principal Assistant Secretary for Security (Assessment) (D2) and of $6,122,640 in NAMS value for 21 non-directorate posts from Head 151 - Government Secretariat : Security Branch;
Head 151 - Government Secretariat : Security Branch
- the transfer to this Head of $239,880 in NAMS value for one non-directorate post from Head 143 - Government Secretariat : Civil Service Branch;
Head 142 - Government Secretariat : Offices of the Chief Secretary, the Financial Secretary and the Political Adviser
- the retitling of Head 142 by deleting the reference to the Political Advisers Office;
Head 144 - Government Secretariat : Constitutional Affairs Branch
- the creation of one supernumerary post of Administrative Officer Staff Grade C (AOSGC (D2) for the period up to the end of June 1997; and
- the transfer to this Head of $2,032,740 in NAMS value for three non-directorate posts from Head 142 - Government Secretariat : Offices of the Chief Secretary, the Financial Secretary and the Political Adviser.
To facilitate a smooth transition of Government, there is a need to group together functions which derive directly from UK sovereignty and which will cease in 1997. This requires consequential rationalisation in the establishment of affected Branches. In addition, Constitutional Affairs Branch (CAB) does not have adequate staffing resources at the directorate level to enable it to cope with the increased workload and complexity of work relating to various China liaison matters and cross-border liaison work which it has recently taken over from the Political Advisers Office (PAO).
2. We propose -
- that those posts under the establishment of PAO and Security Branch (SB) with responsibilities and functions which derive directly from UK sovereignty and which will cease after 30 June 1997 be grouped together and transferred to His Excellency the Governors Establishment;
- the creation of one supernumerary post of AOSGC (D2) on His Excellency the Governors Establishment up to end-June 1997 to handle sovereignty-related civil service matters;
- the transfer of one post of Personal Secretary I (MPS 16 - 21) from Civil Service Branch (CSB) to Security Branch (SB);
- that, following the transfer of cross-border liaison work from PAO to CAB, the transfer of the posts of two Senior Administrative Officer (MPS 45-49) and one Executive Officer I (MPS 28 - 33) from the PAO to CAB; and
- the creation in CAB of one supernumerary AOSGC post (D2) initially up to 30 June 1997 to co-ordinate cross-border liaison work and to handle other China liaison matters.
3. The main functions of the PAO are to advise on China-related matters in the context of UK/China relationship, provide a formal channel of communication with the New China News Agency and contribute to the work of the Joint Liaison Group. Since its functions are all UK-sovereignty related, the Office will cease to exist on 1 July 1997; so will all the posts on its establishment lapse by the end of June 1997.
4. SB and CSB have been handling work which derive directly from UK sovereignty and which will cease with the transfer of sovereignty. In fact, the SB and CSB officers responsible for this work are already working, on an on-loan basis, in the PAO. In order to ensure a smooth transition through 1997 of the work and structure of these Branches, we now propose that these functions and the staffing resources for handling them be formally grouped together in a re-organised PAO. A list of the posts that we propose to transfer to PAO to effect the re-organisation is at Enclosure 1. Members will note that, apart from the re-creation of one supernumerary AOSGC (D2) post which has lapsed by the end of 1995-96 but which we have always intended to renew (see paragraph 5 below), the grouping together of all UK-sovereignty related functions will not give rise to any additional staffing requirement.
5. Following Finance Committees approval in 1985 (vide paper EC 1984-85 Item 37), we created in CSB a supernumerary AOSGC (D2) post to handle civil service issues arising from the Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong. These issues include, for example, matters relating to Her Majestys Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS) the localisation of Colonial Regulations and other changes necessitated by the provisions of the Joint Declaration and Basic Law. Since its creation and until the end of 1995-96, with Members approval, the post has been retained annually. In fact, during our last discussion with Members (on 15 December 1994 in the context of Members consideration of EC(95-96)(E)1), we informed Members of our assessment that the post would be required until 30 June 1997. We still hold that view. We did not make a submission before the close of the last financial year seeking Members endorsement for the further retention in CSB of that post because we intended to deal with it in the context of the present submission on the re-organisation of the PAO. Since the core duties of the post are primarily UK-sovereignty related, we believe that it should come under the re-organised PAO. As we have not been able to make the present submission before 31 March 1996, the post has lapsed and the officer undertaking this work is presently on loan from CSB to PAO. We therefore wish to rectify the situation and re-create the supernumerary post in PAO until 30 June 1997. There is no change to the core duties and responsibilities of the post which is now primarily responsible for the winding-up of the HMOCS. The post is now known as Deputy Political Adviser (Personnel). The duty list of this supernumerary post is at Enclosure 2.
6. The Political Adviser (PA) reports direct to the Governor. For housekeeping purposes, the PAO comes under Head 142 - Government Secretariat: Offices of the Chief Secretary, the Financial Secretary and the Political Adviser and shares the departmental administration support provided by the Departmental Administration Unit which is responsible for the provision of common service to the Government Secretariat as a whole. Again, to facilitate a smooth transition of the Government Secretariat functions and structure, and given that the PA reports direct to the Governor, we propose that the entire re-organised PAO should be transferred to Head 21 - His Excellency the Governors Establishment. The organisation chart of the re-organised PAO is at Enclosure 3.
7. With Members approval of the proposed re-organisation of the PAO, we shall delete the reference to the PAO from the title of Head 142. The revised title will then be Government Secretariat: Offices of the Chief Secretary and the Financial Secretary.
8. The proposed transfer is to enable SB to release one Senior Personal Secretary(SPS) post (MPS 22 - 27 and with a NAMS value of $317,520 ) to the re-organised PAO. The transfer is due to two reasons. For operational reasons, it had always been the practice that an expatriate SPS provides secretarial support to Deputy Secretary (Security) 2 (D3). Following the proposed re-organisation of the PAO, we consider that the secretarial support to DS(S)2 no longer needs to be pitched at the SPS level. Instead, we consider localising the post and ranking it at Personal Secretary I level(MPS 16 - 21 and with a NAMS value of $239,880) to be more appropriate. In addition, in line with the established practice in PAO, secretarial support to the Deputy Political Adviser (Personnel) should be provided by an expatriate SPS. The SPS post, like all posts in PAO, will lapse by the end of June 1997.
9. The responsibility for co-ordinating cross-border liaison and related functions used to form part of the work of the PAO, with general policy guidance and supervision being provided by the Political Adviser and his Deputy who are UK Diplomatic Service secondees. The winding up of the PAO by 30 June 1997 means that the cross-border liaison and related functions, which will continue and expand beyond 1997, need to be transferred elsewhere. Given that CAB already plays a key co-ordinating role in China-related activities, it is only logical for the Branch to take over responsibility for such work.
10. With the transfer of cross-border liaison and related duties from the PAO, we also need to transfer to CAB the non-directorate staff who provide support for such work in the PAO. However, obviously the PA and his deputy have to remain within the PAO to undertake their usual responsibilities. In view of the existing workload of the other AOSGC staff in CAB which does not allow them to take on additional duties, we need to create a directorate post in CAB both to assume supervisory responsibility for such duties, and particularly to deal with the increasing complexity and volume of cross-border issues and other China liaison responsibilities as we enter into the final phase of the transition.
11. Over the years, contacts between Hong Kong and Guangdong have expanded significantly, with cross-border movements reaching 50 million passengers and 8.5 million vehicles last year. To date, the cross-border liaison system is not only utilised for law enforcement liaison (e.g. the prevention of illegal immigration and cross-border smuggling, etc.), but also covers a wide range of other activities including the regulation of Shenzhen River and co-ordination of cross-border transport arrangements. We anticipate that there will continue to be a steady and significant increase in the complexity and volume of work in this area in the future. In parallel with this trend, the number of official visits to and from China has also increased significantly. In 1995, over 1 300 official visits took place between China and Hong Kong, with 33 visits at policy secretary level and above. As 1997 is approaching, it is obvious that increasing contacts between Hong Kong Government officials and their Chinese counterparts will not only be beneficial to, but also essential in, building up a constructive working relationship between China and Hong Kong.
12. The increasingly heavy policy and planning responsibilities for cross-border issues and other China liaison work necessitate the full-time involvement of an AOSGC post. We therefore propose to create a supernumerary AOSGC post in CAB up to the end of June 1997. The duty list and the proposed organisation chart of CAB are at Enclosures 4 and 5. Pegging this post at this level is appropriate as we need a directorate officer with the necessary experience and abilities to handle delicate cross-border issues, to deal with the planning and co-ordinating work of all China-related visits and to supervise the supporting staff for such tasks. The post is proposed for creation on a supernumerary basis as CAB intends to review its overall staffing position in mid-1997 in the light of the workload then prevailing on post-transition business.
13. As set out in paragraph 10 above, we also need to transfer the non-directorate posts concerned (two Senior Administrative Officers and one Executive Officer I) from the PAO to CAB.
14. The total additional notional salary cost of the proposal at MID-POINT is -
|
|
$
|
No. of Posts
|
|---|
|
Supernumerary posts
|
2,365,200
|
2 |
The full annual average staff cost of the proposal, including salaries and staff on-costs, is $4,374,480. The proposal will not necessitate the creation of any additional non-directorate posts.
15. No provision has been included in the 1996-97 Estimates to meet the cost of the proposal which is estimated at $1,911,000 for the remainder of the financial year calculated at the current minimum salary point. Subject to Members approval, we shall provide the supplementary provision required under delegated authority.
16. There are a number of functions of a UK-sovereignty related nature which continue to be necessary but will cease around 30 June 1997. We consider it important to group these together and separate them from other Secretariat Branches. Thus the Branches concerned could straddle the 1997 transition with unchanged responsibilities and without any organisational disruption. We have, on a trial basis, redeployed the existing posts detailed in this agenda item to test out the appropriate staffing levels and structures. The trial has been successful.
17. CSB agrees that it is appropriate to group together all those functions which derive from UK sovereignty to a re-organised PAO under His Excellency the Governors Establishment. We also agree that there is a need for the re-creation of a supernumerary post of AOSGC to deal with sovereignty-related civil service issues. We also support the creation of a supernumerary post of AOSGC in CAB to deal with cross-border liaison matters. In view of the delicate nature of the work, the proposed grading and ranking are appropriate. We agree that a review of the establishment of CAB should be conducted in mid-1997.
18. The Standing Committee of Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service has advised that the directorate establishment of the Security Branch and the Political Advisers Office are appropriate as a result of the proposed transfers.
Constitutional Affairs Branch
Offices of the Chief Secretary, the Financial Secretary
and the Political Adviser
April 1996
Enclosure 1 to EC(96-97)14
From Head 142 - Government Secretariat : Offices of the Chief Secretary,
the Financial Secretary and the Political Adviser
|
Political Advisers Office
|
|
NAMS ($)
|
|---|
|
Political Adviser
|
1
|
-
|
|
Deputy Political Adviser
|
1
|
-
|
|
Assistant Political Adviser
|
1
|
-
|
|
Administrative Officer Staff Grade C
|
1
|
-
|
|
Personal Assistant
|
1
|
418,260
|
|
Senior Personal Secretary
|
4
|
1,270,080
|
|
Senior Confidential Assistant
|
1
|
264,420
|
|
Chauffeur
|
1
|
132,360
|
|
Motor Driver
|
1
|
124,200
|
|
12
|
2,209,320
|
|
From Head 151 - Government Secretariat : Security Branch
|
|
|
|
Principal Assistant Secretary (Assessment)
|
1
|
-
|
|
Senior Police Research Officer
|
2
|
1,614,480
|
|
Senior Personal Secretary
|
2
|
635,040
|
|
Senior Executive Assistant
|
2
|
798,960
|
|
Confidential Assistant
|
9
|
1,609,740
|
|
Senior Confidential Assistant
|
1
|
264,420
|
|
Officer-in-charge, Communication Officer
|
1
|
276,000
|
|
Communication Officer
|
4
|
924,000
|
|
22
|
6,122,640 |
Enclosure 2 to EC(96-97)14
The officer will report to the Political Adviser and will be mainly responsible for -
- all matters related to the winding-up of Her Majestys Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), including liaison with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Overseas Development Administration, various Branches and Departments of the Hong Kong Government and individual officers;
- implementing various HMOCS compensation schemes and other HMOCS arrangements;
- providing advice and assistance on sovereignty-related civil service issues, including replacements of Colonial Regulations, changes to public service titles to accord with the structure of the future Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the review of badges and insignia on Government uniforms;
- civil service aspects of the British Nationality Selection Scheme; and
- providing advice and support on transitional civil service issues to Civil Service Branch and the Joint Liaison Group.
Enclosure 4 to EC(96-97)14
- To co-ordinate HKG work in relation to the Hong Kong-Guangdong cross-border liaison system, particularly the planning for the Annual Border Liaison Review exercise with the Guangdong authorities.
- To advise Departments/Branches on cross-border dealings with the Guangdong side on a wide range of cross-border issues including, for example, Police contact with China, legal and illegal immigration from China and other related cross-border matters.
- To provide support and assistance in cross-border discussions on subjects like regulation of Shenzhen River, arrangements for cross-border transport etc.
- To liaise with Chinese authorities on bilateral Hong Kong/Mainland business.
- To co-ordinate official visits to and from China, including organisation of official sponsored visits and liaison with the Chinese Visa Office on visa applications.
Last Updated on 3 December 1998
