PLC Paper No.145/96-97
Ref: PLC/HC/1
Consultation Paper on the
Provision of Secretariat Support to the
Provisional Legislative Council on and
after 1 July 1997
Purpose
The Working Group on Administrative Matters (Working Group) invites Members to give their views on the arrangements for the provision of support services to the Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) on and after 1 July 1997.
Background
2.Currently, support services to the PLC are provided by the Provisional Legislative Council Secretariat (PLC Secretariat) comprising a core team of 15 staff members who are former employees of the Legislative Council Secretariat (LegCo Secretariat). The arrangement for these staff members to resign from the LegCo Secretariat to join the PLC Secretariat is aimed at maintaining continuity in the provision of service to the future legislative body after 30 June 1997. There has been consensus amongst Members of the PLC that staff of the LegCo Secretariat should continue to service the legislature after 30 June 1997. On the basis of this understanding, the following paragraphs will examine the action required for the merger of the PLC and LegCo Secretariats on 1 July 1997.
Present Situation
Legal authority and financial provision
3.The LegCo Secretariat operates under The Legislative Council Commission, a statutory corporation established under The Legislative Council Commission Ordinance (Cap 443). A copy of the Ordinance is attached at Appendix I.
4.The Legislative Council Commission is a legal entity which directs the operation of an independent Secretariat, including the employment of secretariat staff, in order to provide administrative support and services to the Council and its committees. The Commission currently comprises 11 members, namely, the President of the Council, Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the House Committee, and eight other members elected by and from among Members of the Council. The functions and powers of the Commission are set out in sections 9 and 10 of the Ordinance respectively.
5.The Commission is fully-funded by the Government. Provision of funds to the Commission is made under a separate head of expenditure (Head 112) in the Government's annual Estimates approved under the Appropriation Ordinance. In the 1997-98 Draft Estimates, the Government has proposed a full year budget for the Commission amounting to $286.5 million to enable it to provide support to Members of the Legislature.
Accommodation
6.In accordance with the exchange of letters between the Administration and The Legislative Council Commission, the Administration has to provide reasonable accommodation to the LegCo to enable the Council to discharge its functions. Apart from the LegCo Building, the Administration has also provided the Commission with office premises at Citibank Tower and Central Government Offices (West Wing), which serve as outstations for the LegCo Secretariat and central offices for individual Members.
Staffing support
7.The staff establishment of the LegCo Secretariat as at 1 April 1997 is 305 plus 12 posts funded by two capital accounts approved for the Authentication of Chinese Texts of Existing Legislation Project (10 posts) and the LegCo London Office (2 posts). The two capital accounts will lapse after the completion of the Authentication exercise and the closure of the London Office in July 1997. As regards the 305 posts in the permanent establishment, they have included 15 posts of staff members who have resigned to join the PLC Secretariat. The vacancies arising from the staff resignation are currently filled by temporary and acting appointments. The detailed breakdown of these 305 posts into ranks is set out in Appendix II.
Proposal for Changes
8.In accordance with Article 8 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the laws currently in force in Hong Kong shall be maintained, except for any that contravene the Basic Law, subject to necessary amendments. The Legislative Council Commission Ordinance will therefore be maintained after 30 June 1997, and the Commission will still be the statutory corporation under which the Secretariat operates. However, to ensure that the Ordinance is consistent with the Basic Law and that the Commission may continue to operate through its members and to provide service to the PLC through a Secretariat on 1 July 1997, certain provisions in the Ordinance need to be amended. The necessary changes include-
- Adaptation of the Ordinance - Certain terms (e.g. the Chinese title of the Council and the Commission) and definitions (e.g. definition of "Council" to include the PLC) in the Ordinance need to be amended in order to be consistent with the Basic Law and to reflect the situation on 1 July 1997.
- Membership of the Commission - Before an election of members to the Commission can be arranged in accordance with S. 4(1)(e) of the Ordinance, it may be necessary to have a transitional provision to provide for members of the Working Group on Administrative Matters to be members of the Commission and to supervise the operation of the LegCo Secretariat.
- Handling of assets and contracts in relation to the PLC - Provision is necessary to enable all assets acquired and contracts (including contracts of employment) entered into for the purposes of the operation of the PLC to be transferred to the Commission with effect from 1 July 1997.
- Financial provision - A consequential amendment needs to be made to the Appropriation Ordinance 1997 so that funds appropriated to the Commission under Head 112 of the Ordinance can be used by the Commission for providing secretariat support to the PLC from 1 July 1997 onwards.
9.As for the naming of the Commission and the LegCo Secretariat, the Working Group noted that after making the above legislative amendments, the Commission will be known as "The Legislative Council Commission" and
while the LegCo Secretariat will be known as the "Legislative Council Secretariat" and
. The Working Group considers that during the life of the Provisional Legislative Council, the Commission should be known as The Provisional Legislative Council Commission
, and the secretariat the "Provisional Legislative Council Secretariat"
. Amendments to the Ordinance to this effect are therefore necessary. Any amendments to the Ordinance should take effect on 1 July 1997 so that the Commission may operate on and after that date.
10.As mentioned in paragraph 2 above, staff of the present LegCo Secretariat continuing to service the legislature after 30 June 1997 will have to be merged with the ex-staff members of the LegCo Secretariat (i.e. those who have been employed by the LegCo Secretariat on fixed terms contracts immediately before their employment for the PLC Secretariat) who are currently engaged or may be engaged by the Chief Executive (CE) to serve the PLC. Since the existing staff of the LegCo Secretariat should be able to carry on their contracts under the Legislative Council Commission Ordinance adapted in accordance with the above proposals, the matter left to be considered by Members would be the manner in which these staff members of the present PLC Secretariat would continue their service under the re-integrated LegCo Secretariat from 1 July 1997 onwards. The contracts of the staff of the present PLC Secretariat with the CE will expire on 31 July 1997, but these contracts will be taken over by the Commission by way of the legislative amendments in paragraph 8(c). In other words, these staff members will automatically become staff of the re-integrated LegCo Secretariat (or PLC Secretariat), but only until 31 July 1997. The Working Group therefore considers it appropriate to give a notice to these staff members as early as practicable between now and 1 July 1997 of the intention to continue to employ these staff beyond 31 July 1997. This is in line with the usual practice in the LegCo Secretariat where staff are given renewal notice up to six months before the expiry of the contract period. Formal offer of continued employment will be made as soon as the legislative amendments to the Legislative Council Commission Ordinance passed by the Council have taken effect. These staff members should also resume their service with the LegCo Secretariat as if there had not been any break in service.
Advice Sought
11.Members are invited to express views on the proposals for changes outlined in paragraphs 8-10 above, in particular the proposed amendments to The Legislative Council Commission Ordinance and the consequential amendment to the Appropriation Ordinance 1997 detailed in Appendix III, the naming of the Commission and the Secretariat, and the integration of the staff of the two Secretariats. Subject to Members' views, the Working Group will report back to the Council, and the Chief Executive's Office will be invited to proceed with the drafting of the amendments with a view to introducing an Amendment Bill to the Council.
Provisional Legislative Council Secretariat
17 April 1997
Appendix II
Staff Establishment of Legislative Council Secretariat
| Post | Establishment
as at 1.4.97
|
|---|
| Secretary General (SG) | 1
|
| Legal Adviser (LA) | 1
|
| Deputy Secretary General (DSG) | 1
|
| Assistant Secretary General (ASG) | 3
|
| Senior Assistant Legal Adviser (SALA) | 1
|
| Head, Research & Library (H/RL) | 1
|
| Principal Assistant Secretary (PAS) | 1
|
| Accountant (ACCT) | 1
|
| Chief Assistant Secretary (CAS) | 13
|
| Assistant Legal Adviser (ALA) | 5
|
| Chief Public Information Officer (CPIO) | 1
|
| Chief Chinese Language Officer (CCLO) | 3
|
| Senior Assistant Secretary (SAS) | 26
|
| Senior Public Information Officer (SPIO) | 2
|
| Senior Chinese Language Officer (SCLO) | 19
|
| Research Officer (RO) | 5
|
| Chinese Language Officer (CLO) | 26
|
| Assistant Secretary (AS) | 8
|
| Computer Officer (COMO) | 2
|
| Assistant Computer Officer (ACO) | 3
|
| Assistant Accountant (AA) | 2
|
| Assistant Secretary (Social Functions) (ASSF) | 1
|
| Public Information Officer (PIO) | 1
|
| Librarian (LIBN) | 2
|
| Senior Personal Secretary (SPS) | 3
|
| Personal Secretary I (PSI) | 6
|
| Personal Secretary II (PSII) | 22
|
| Senior Chinese Word Processing Operator (SCWO) | 4
|
| Chinese Word Processing Operator (CWO) | 8
|
| Senior Typist (ST) | 1
|
| Typist (T) | 18
|
| Senior Clerical Officer (SCO) | 2
|
| Security Officer (SO) | 1
|
| Senior Security Assistant (SSA) | 2
|
| Security Assistant (SA) | 19
|
| Clerical Officer I (COI) | 14
|
| Clerical Officer II (COII) | 30
|
| Clerical Assistant (CA) | 11
|
| Accounting Clerk (AC) | 4
|
| Social Functions Assistant (SFA) | 1
|
| Steward (STE) | 5
|
| Personal Chauffeur (PC) | 1
|
| Chauffeur (C) | 1
|
| Motor Driver (MD) | 1
|
| Office Assistant (OA) | 18
|
| Workman I (WMI) | 2
|
| Workman II (WMII) | 2
|
| Total | 305
|
Appendix III
Proposed amendments to The
Legislative Council Commission Ordinance
| Section | Original
Provisions | Suggested Amendments
|
|---|
| Whole Ordinance
| Chinese title of the Council and the Commission - 
 | For consistency in nomenclature with the Basic Law, it is necessary to amend  to read  wherever it appears in the Ordinance.
|
| 2 | Definition of the term "Council" -
| In order to reflect the situation on 1 July 1997, it is proposed to amend the definition of the term "Council" to mean the Legislative Council of the HKSAR and where necessary, to include the Provisional Legislative Council before the first Legislative Council of the HKSAR is formed. A Chinese version will have to be provided accordingly.
|
| 4 | Membership - The current composition of the Commission comprises :
- President of the Council (S.4(1)(a));
- Chairman of House Committee (S.4(1)(b));
- Deputy Chairman of House Committee (S.4(1)(c)); and
- eight other members elected by and from among Members of the Council (S.4(1)(e)).
| In order to ensure that there will be Members acting as members of the Commission on 1 July 1997 to supervise the operation of the Secretariat, it is proposed to add a transitional provision to provide that members of the Working Group on Administrative Matters of the Provisional Legislative Council, in addition to the President, Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the House Committee, shall be members of the Commission until an election of members to the Commission takes place pursuant to S. 4(1)(e).*
|
| 16 | Reference to  in the Chinese text
| To amend to read  in order to be consistent with the Basic Law.
|
| 19, 23 | Reference to the "Crown"
| To replace all references to the "Crown" by "The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government" or other appropriate equivalent.
|
| New |
| In order to ensure that all assets acquired and contracts entered into for the purposes of the operation of the Provisional Legislative Council are to be held or continue to be in force under the name of the Commission, it is proposed to add a new section to provide that the Commission shall, with effect from 1 July 1997, be vested with the title of all property acquired, all liabilities, debts and obligations incurred and contracts entered into by designated bodies for the operation of the Provisional Legislative Council. These may include contracts of employment entered into with former Legislative Council Secretariat staff and other temporary staff. "Designated bodies' is intended to cover all persons who have been identified or recognized as having undertaken actions which the Provisional Legislative Council or the Working Group on Administrative Matters has decided to take over, e.g. contracts entered into by Mrs Rita Fan.
|
| Conse-quential
| Reference to the Chinese title of the Commission against Head 112 under the Appropriation Ordinance 1997
| To ensure that funds appropriated under Head 112 of the Appropriation Ordinance 1997 can be used by the Commission in accordance with S.12 of The Legislative Council Commission Ordinance, it is necessary to amend the Chinese title of Head 112 to correspond with that used in the Ordinance as amended.
|
* On 18 October 1995, a resolution determining the membership, manner of election of members to the Commission and their terms of office was passed. It may be necessary to move a motion to rescind the resolution or to provide expressly that the resolution does not affect the taking up of office by Members under the new transitional provision.
