EC(1999-2000)8
For discussion
on 21 April 1999
ITEM FOR ESTABLISHMENT SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE
HEAD 37 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
HEAD 40 - EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee -
- the transfer of the delegated authority, with retrospective effect from 1 April 1999, for the creation and deletion of shadow civil service ranks and posts for civil servants working in -
- the Hospital Authority from the Head
of Hospital Services Department to the Director of Health; and
- the Vocational Training Council from
the Head of Technical Education and Industrial Training Department to the Director of Education; and
- the deletion of one permanent directorate post
of Senior Principal Executive Officer (D2) ($116,650 - $123,850) in the Hospital Services Department.
PROBLEM
With effect from 1 April 1999, the personnel management functions for the civil servants working in the Hospital Authority (HA) and in the Vocational Training Council (VTC) have been transferred, as follows -
- regarding the HA, the functions have been transferred from the Hospital Services Department (HSD) to the Department of Health (DH); and
- regarding the VTC, the functions have been transferred from the Technical Education and Industrial Training Department (TEITD) to the Education Department (ED).
To carry out the new functions, DH and ED need the delegated authority to create and delete shadow civil service ranks and posts for civil servants working in HA
and VTC. The permanent post of Senior Principal Executive Officer (SPEO), accommodating the former Head of HSD (Administrator/HSD), is no longer required as a result of the transfer.
PROPOSAL
2. We propose to -
- transfer the delegated authority, with retrospective effect from 1 April 1999, for the creation and deletion of shadow civil service ranks and posts for civil servants working in -
- HA from the Head of HSD to the Director of Health; and
- VTC from the Head of TEITD to the Director of Education; and
- delete the permanent post of SPEO in HSD.
JUSTIFICATION
3. There is a need to streamline the Government set-up to carry out personnel management function for civil servants working in HA and in VTC in a cost-effective manner.
Transfer of HSD's Functions to DH
4. Following the transfer of the management and control of all public hospitals in Hong Kong to HA in December 1991, HSD was reorganised into a personnel management department for civil servants working in HA. HSD performed the following personnel management functions in respect of civil servants working in HA so as to assist the latter in the management of a mixed staff situation -
- to advise HA Head Office and individual hospitals on administrative, manpower and other personnel matters which may have a bearing on the working conditions and morale of civil servants working in HA, such as interpretation and implementation of Civil Service Regulations, Civil Service Bureau's circulars and guidelines, pensions legislation and others;
- to perform personnel functions related to staff discipline and conduct-related matters, appointment and promotion under the shadow appointment/promotion scheme, transfer out of HA, resignation, retirement, death and certain leave and training-related matters;
- to operate a departmental staff consultative machinery and handle staff complaints and appeals; and
- to prepare pension papers (relating to their period of service in civil service) for ex-civil servants, who have opted for the HA terms of employment, upon their final departure from the HA.
5. By the end of the three-year option period (i.e. 1 December 1994), during which civil servants working in HA might change over to HA terms of employment, 11 343 civil servants had opted for HA terms, with 8 008 choosing to remain as civil servants. Since then, the number of civil servants working in HA has decreased through natural wastage, by 29%, to 5 658 as at 1 February 1999. This now constitutes about 11% of the total HA establishment.
6. In view of the decreasing number of civil servants working in HA, we have conducted an organisational review of HSD and concluded that it is more cost-effective to transfer the personnel management functions in respect of civil servants working in HA from HSD to DH. The transfer and the consequential disestablishment of HSD have been reflected in the 1999-2000 Estimates.
Transfer of TEITD's Functions to ED
7. With effect from 1 August 1991, VTC took over from TEITD the responsibilities of providing vocational training to persons with a disability and of operating the statutory apprenticeship scheme. Since then the functions of the TEITD were reduced to ensuring effective personnel management of civil servants working in VTC. As VTC is responsible for the daily operational management of civil servants working there, TEITD only served to -
- maintain personnel data on all civil servants working in VTC and deal with personnel work related to their terms and conditions of employment, e.g. applications for benefits and allowances, resignation, retirement and termination of service, staff complaints and disciplinary action;
- administer the shadow promotion scheme to preserve the promotion prospects and pension benefits of civil servants working in VTC;
- operate a departmental staff consultative machinery, and liaise with VTC on important issues affecting civil servants working there; and
- keep civil servants working in VTC informed of regulations and instructions promulgated, as well as available training opportunities provided, by the Government, and ensure that staff comply with rules promulgated by VTC for its day-to-day operation.
8. When the operational functions of TEITD were transferred to VTC in 1991, there were 170 civil servants who opted to remain as civil servants working in VTC. As at 1 March 1999, the number had reduced to 117, which was about 3% of the total number of staff working in the VTC. Because of its limited functions, the TEITD had only two non-directorate staff on its establishment. They worked to the Director of Education and an Assistant Director of Education who were concurrently the respective ex-officio Head and Assistant Head of TEITD.
9. To rationalise Government structure, the Administration reorganised TEITD and transferred its functions to ED with effect from 1 April 1999. We have reflected this transfer in the 1999-2000 Estimates.
Deletion of one permanent post of SPEO (D2)
| 10. From 1 April 1999 onwards, the Director of Health has replaced the Administrator/HSD as the Head of Department for the civil servants working in HA, and the post of Administrator/HSD is no longer required. Forty-two HSD staff have also been transferred to DH to perform personnel management functions. Accordingly, we propose to delete the permanent post of SPEO, the Administrator/HSD. The main duties and responsibilities of the Administrator/HSD were set out at the Enclosure. | Encl. |
11. In parallel , we have created for six months an SPEO post (D2) in DH on a supernumerary basis until end September 1999 to deal with the transfer arrangements.
Transfer of delegated authority for the creation and deletion of shadow civil service ranks and posts for civil servants working in HA and VTC
12. In June 1991, the Finance Committee approved the delegation of the authority to create and delete shadow civil service ranks and posts for civil servants working in -
- HA to Head of HSD vide EC 1991-92 Item 23; and
- VTC to Head of TEITD vide EC 1991-92 Item 22.
By accommodating the civil servants working in HA and VTC in shadow posts, this arrangement preserves the promotion prospects of these civil servants. All related posts in the departmental and common grades have been deleted and replaced by shadow posts in corresponding civil service ranks since August 1991 for TEITD and December 1991 for HSD.
13. The transfer of personnel management functions from HSD to DH and from TEITD to ED on 1 April 1999 did not alter the shadow post arrangement. Civil servants working in HA and VTC will continue to be accommodated under this "shadow" establishment. The administrative and operational arrangements for implementing the shadow promotion scheme in the two organisations will also remain unchanged. It is therefore necessary to transfer the delegated authority for the creation and deletion of shadow civil service ranks and posts for civil servants working in HA and VTC from the Head of HSD to the Director of Health, and from Head of TEITD to the Director of Education, respectively.
Staff Consultation and Briefing
Civil servants working in HA
14. In the period from September 1998 to February 1999, HSD consulted the representatives of staff unions/associations on the proposed transfer. HSD and DH on 4 December 1998 and 18 December 1998, separately conducted staff briefings on this subject at their Departmental Consultative Committee (DCC) meetings. Staff raised no objection to the transfer of personnel management functions to DH, but expressed some concerns on certain operational issues. To address these concerns, we undertook that -
- the existing staff consultation mechanism, i.e. separate DCC and Grade Consultative Committee meetings for civil servants working in HA, would be maintained;
- most of the current HSD staff would be transferred to DH and would initially continue to perform personnel management functions for civil servants in HA as a separate unit. In future, there might be scope to reorganise the existing personnel management functions of DH to incorporate the work of the unit for more flexible deployment of resources, but the level and quality of services would not be materially different from the current ones; and
- the existing appointment and promotion arrangements under the shadow appointment/promotion scheme would continue and the existing transfer arrangement would be maintained for civil servants in common grades working in HA who want to apply for transfer to DH.
15. A letter was issued in January 1999 by the Administrator/HSD, informing all civil servants working in HA of the arrangements after the transfer of personnel management functions from HSD to DH on 1 April 1999.
Civil servants working in VTC
16. We have consulted the civil servants working in VTC. The matter was discussed twice, first at a special meeting of the DCC of TEITD held
on 27 November 1998 and subsequently at the regular DCC meeting held on
20 January 1999. The staff were initially concerned that the changes might affect their terms and conditions of service, and had asked to be given the options to retire on abolition of office terms, or transfer back to other government departments.
17. To address their concerns, the Administration explained that the proposal would not affect their terms and conditions of service, as it was essentially a technical exercise to rationalise the existing arrangement for providing personnel management services to civil servants working in VTC. The Administration also reassured staff that the shadow promotion scheme would continue to operate to preserve their promotion prospects and pension benefits.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
18. Savings arising from the proposal of deleting the post of the Administrator/HSD in notional annual salary cost at mid-point and full annual average staff cost values are -
| Notional annual salary
cost at mid-point
$ | Full annual average
staff cost
$ | No. of post
|
|---|
| SPEO | 1,443,000 | 2,528,556 | 1
|
19. As mentioned in paragraph 11, we have created for six months an SPEO post in DH on a supernumerary basis until end September 1999.
20. As regards the reorganisation of TEITD, it is a cost-neutral exercise. Its existing two staff (one Executive Officer I and one Assistant Clerical Officer) will be permanently redeployed to ED to carry out the personnel management functions for civil servants working in VTC.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
21. The transfer of personnel management functions from HSD to DH and from TEITD to ED is merely a reshuffling of duties, which will not affect the terms of employment of the civil servants working in HA and VTC or the personnel arrangement services provided by the Administration to these staff.
22. As a result of normal staff movement , an average of six and
30 shadow posts are created and deleted respectively each month in HSD in
1998-99 to cater for the promotion and wastage of civil servants working in HA.
As for TEITD, it created one shadow post of Workshop Instructor II and deleted five shadow posts (two Workshop Instructor II, one Workshop Instructor III, one Workman II and one Artisan) in 1998-99.
CIVIL SERVICE BUREAU COMMENTS
23. The Civil Service Bureau supports the deletion of the permanent SPEO post in the Hospital Services Department and the transfer of the delegated authority under the Shadow Promotion Schemes from the Administrator, Hospital Services Department and the Head of Technical Education and Industrial Training Department to the Director of Health and the Director of Education respectively.
ADVICE OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON DIRECTORATE SALARIES AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
24. The Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service has advised that the proposal is appropriate.
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Health and Welfare Bureau
Education and Manpower Bureau
April 1999
Enclosure to EC(1999-2000)8
Job Description
Administrator, Hospital Services Department
(Senior Principal Executive Officer (D2))
As head of the Hospital Services Department, the Administrator is accountable to the Secretary for Health and Welfare and is responsible for -
- overseeing the personnel administration of civil servants working in HA, including the operation of the shadow promotion scheme and the institution of disciplinary action;
- safeguarding the legitimate interests of civil servants working in HA, including measures to implement equal promotion and training opportunities; handling complex staff complaint cases etc.;
- advising HA on administrative, manpower and other matters which may have a bearing on the working conditions and morale of civil servants working in HA;
- liaising with individual hospitals and staff associations to promote good staff relations for the efficient delivery of hospital services;
- overseeing the operation of a staff consultative machinery for civil servants working in HA and chairing the Departmental Consultative Committee; and
- overseeing the financial control of the department's expenditure and the effective use of resources.
