The Civil Service employs about 4.8 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 169 600 (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 27 400 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 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); Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service (the disciplined services); and 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 2001–02 was 5.7 per cent. The increase in the number of people leaving the service was mainly due to the implementation of the Voluntary Retirement Scheme and the Voluntary Departure Scheme. The former was launched in July 2000 to allow eligible civil servants belonging to designated grades with identified or anticipated staff surplus to retire from the service voluntarily, with retirement benefits and compensation. The latter was implemented in March 2000 to enable civil servants in designated grades in the Housing Department to leave the service voluntarily to facilitate a phased transfer of Housing Authority estate management and maintenance services to the private sector. 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: Senior Civil Service Council, Model Scale 1 Staff Consultative Council, Disciplined Services Consultative Council and Police Force Council. More than 80 consultative committees operate at the departmental level. A Civil Service Newsletter is published regularly 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. An Outstanding Customer Service Excellence Award Scheme was launched in 2002 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.

Civil Service Reform

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:

1. Entry and Exit

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 for operation from mid-2003 onwards.

    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. About 9 800 VR applications were approved.

    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.

2. Pay

The current pay policy for the Civil Service is to offer sufficient remuneration to attract, retain, and motivate staff of a suitable calibre to provide the public with an effective and efficient service. Such remuneration should be regarded as fair by both civil servants and the public which they serve. Within these parameters, broad comparability with the private sector is an important factor in setting civil service pay.

    To assess the feasibility of introducing elements of performance-based rewards into the civil service system, the Government launched a pilot scheme on team-based performance reward in six voluntary departments in late 2001. The pilot scheme was completed at end-2002 and an evaluation of the scheme is being conducted.

3. Conduct and Discipline

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.

4. Training and Development

Training and development programmes are used extensively to support the implementation of the reform initiatives. The Government acquired funding of $50 million to introduce a three-year Training and Development Programme from 2001–02 to 2003–04. The programme aims to provide 90 000 additional training places, most of which are reserved for junior staff. The programme focuses on three main themes, namely, 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 and promoting a continuous learning culture in the Civil Service.

Review of Civil Service Pay Policy and System

In December 2001, the Government announced its decision to embark on a comprehensive review of the civil service pay policy and system with the assistance of the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service, the Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service and the Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service. The broad objective of the review is to modernise the civil service pay policy and system and to build in more flexibility to facilitate better matching of jobs, talents and pay.

    In the Phase One review, the Task Force set up under the three advisory bodies carried out an analytical study on recent developments in civil service pay administration in other countries with a view to identifying best practices that might be of particular relevance to Hong Kong. In its Phase One Final Report submitted to the Government on September 20, 2002, the Task Force has made recommendations on priority areas for more detailed study in the short, medium and long term. Before taking a view on the way forward, the Government launched a public consultation exercise to gauge the response of all interested parties to the Task Force's recommendations.

Civil Service Training and Development

The Civil Service Training and Development Institute (CSTDI) is the Government's central training and development (T&D) agency. Its work is to provide general training and advisory services to departments/bureaux.

    The focus in 2002 was on assisting departments/bureaux in preparing their organisational T&D Plan. This new initiative, which has become an annual exercise, ensures departmental T&D activities are strategically aligned with business objectives and corporate goals.

    Leadership development has also been given high priority. A symposium on Leadership Development in the Civil Service was held for about 1 000 directorate officers at the City Hall Concert Hall in September. A Directorate Leadership Guide was published and a special website, Leaders' Corner, was launched at the same time to provide suggestions on learning strategies and resources for senior officers.

    The three-year Training and Development Programme, launched in April 2001, continued to be the main driver in the promotion of a lifelong learning culture in the Civil Service. The goal is to help civil servants acquire enhanced skills and updated knowledge to meet changing service requirements. Over 1 000 seminars and courses on various areas were offered to 30 000 staff. An open learning exposition was also held in September, at the Central Library, to promote e-learning and encourage civil servants to embark on external studies.

    The e-learning portal was upgraded and renamed as the Cyber Learning Centre Plus (CLC Plus), and now provides a one-stop access to a full spectrum of T&D information and learning resources. The number of registered users of the CLC Plus has grown significantly, to 30 000.

    Apart from training programmes and visits, a new website, China Update, was developed to help civil servants keep abreast of the latest developments in the Mainland. A variety of courses and promotional activities were also organised to enhance civil servants' knowledge of the Basic Law.