LCQ 10: Manpower of Government
10.4.2024

Following is a question by Dr the Hon Tan Yueheng and a written reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, in the Legislative Council today (April 10): Question: Regarding the manpower of the Government, will the Government inform this Council: (1) of the number of time-limited/supernumerary non-directorate civil service posts and their full staff cost (including salaries and staff on-cost) in each of the past two years; if it does not keep such information, of the reasons for that; and (2) of the number of dedicated offices established by the Government to meet various policy objectives in the past two years, and the following information on the various offices: the time limits for their establishment, the number of staff (including civil servants and non-civil service contract staff), and the full annual staff cost (including salaries and staff on-cost)? Reply: President, The civil service establishment includes posts on the permanent establishment and time-limited posts on the non-permanent establishment. The number of posts of the latter (including directorate and non-directorate posts) has already been counted towards the establishment. Our reply to various parts of the question is as follows: (1) The Controlling Officer's Reports of the bureaux/departments (B/Ds) have set out the establishment and provision ceilings of the respective B/Ds in a particular financial year. The Heads of B/Ds may, with regard to their operational needs and the nature of work, create permanent or time-limited nonâdirectorate posts to meet their staffing needs flexibly provided that their respective ceilings are not exceeded. Generally speaking, for tasks that are time-limited in nature or require review in future, the creation of time-limited posts to undertake the tasks would be more appropriate and can ensure proper use of public resources. The duration of time-limited posts would vary depending on operational needs. The Government has not set a specific ratio on the number of permanent and time-limited posts. The establishment figures of non-directorate posts in the Controlling Officer's Reports of B/Ds already include permanent posts and time-limited posts without separate breakdown on the two types of posts. The Civil Service Bureau does not maintain records on the time-limited non-directorate posts created in B/Ds. (2) According to the relevant policy bureaux, the information relating to the dedicated offices under their purview established in the past two years (i.e. 2022 to 2023) is tabulated below: Office Establishment Date (Month/Year) Tentative Duration (Month/ Year) Number of Staff (Note 1) Staff Cost (including Salaries and Staff On-cost) ($ million) Position as at December 31, 2022 Position as at December 31, 2023 2022 2023 1 Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises December 2022 Till March 2027 18 (including 16 staff seconded from other departments 13 (all seconded from other departments) - (Note 2) 22.99 (including the cost of about $16.2 million borne by the departments of the secondees) 2 Northern Metropolis Co-ordination Office June 2023 Till March 2028 - 34 (including 4 staff seconded from other departments) - 20.95 (including the cost of about $1.6 million borne by the departments of the secondees) 3 Hong Kong Talent Engage October 2023 Till September 2026 - 16 - 2.75 4 National Games Coordination Office October 2023 Till March 2026 - 35 - 7.37 Note 1: The number of staff includes full-time and part-time government employees employed on civil service terms and non-civil service terms. The number of staff listed in the table above represents the position of the relevant offices as of December 31 of the year concerned. The number of staff may have increased or decreased during the year. Note 2: Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises was established on December 23, 2022. As at December 31, 2022, the duration since its establishment was less than one month.