*****************************************************
Following is a question by the Hon Charles Peter Mok and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, in the Legislative Council today (November 11):
Question:
Currently, various policy bureaux/government departments (B/Ds) may employ information technology (IT) staff to fill posts under the civil service establishment, or they may, through the "body-shopping" contract (T-contract) centrally managed by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, engage contractors to employ IT contract staff under a term contract (T-contract staff) for the implementation and support of IT systems. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the following figures of various B/Ds from 2005-2006 to the first half of this year:
(i) the total number of IT staff in the civil service establishment (and set out a breakdown by rank in Table 1 in Annex 1) and the total number of vacancies of such types of posts in each year; and
(ii) the annual total number of IT staff who are non-civil service contract staff, and set out a breakdown by their years of service (i.e. over nine years, over six years to nine years, over four years to six years, and four years or below) in Table 2 in Annex 1.
(2) of (i) the total number of T-contract staff, (ii) the year-on-year rate of change of such figure, (iii) the total expenditure on T-contract, and (iv) the year-on-year rate of change of such amount, in each year from 2005-2006 to the first half of this year (set out in Table 3 in Annex 1);
(3) of the respective estimated numbers of vacancies of the civil service posts and non-civil service contract posts in the Analyst/Programmer grade, and the estimated number of T-contract staff whose duties are similar to that of such grade, in each of the coming three years; and
(4) whether it will comprehensively review the long-term manpower needs of various B/Ds for the services of IT staff, and convert T-contract posts with long-term needs to civil service posts so as to support the manpower resources development in the IT sector; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
(1)(i) The numbers of IT staff in the civil service establishment and the total numbers of vacancies of such staff in various policy bureaux and government departments (B/Ds) from 2005 to June 30, 2015 are tabulated in Table 1 in Annex 2.
(ii) The numbers of full-time (Note) non-civil service contract (NCSC) staff who provide IT support to various B/Ds from 2005 to June 30, 2015 are tabulated in Table 2 in Annex 2.
The Civil Service Bureau has not collected information on the breakdown by years of service regarding the aforesaid NCSC staff.
(2) The total numbers of staff engaged by B/Ds through T-contractors (commonly known as "T-contract staff"), and the year-on-year rate of change of such figures from 2005 to June 30, 2015 are tabulated in Table 3 in Annex 2.
As regards the annual total expenditure on T-contracts of B/Ds, we have not collected related information.
(3) and (4) According to the current information on natural wastage of staff, creation of new posts and deletion of time-limited posts in the Analyst/Programmer grade, the projected numbers of vacancies of the civil service posts in this grade in the coming three years are tabulated in Table 4 in Annex 2.
The projected numbers of vacancies mentioned above do not include the number of staff in the grade to be recruited annually to fill the vacancies of permanent posts, and the actual number of civil service posts to be created annually by B/Ds.
B/Ds will conduct annual reviews on manpower needs in the light of their business requirements. In the IT area, B/Ds may consider deploying civil service IT staff to take up the duties, or engaging NCSC staff and T-contract IT staff to complement the IT manpower required based on the job nature and requirements as well as the actual resource allocation. In view of the above reasons, it is impossible for B/Ds to estimate the numbers of vacancies of NCSC staff and the numbers of T-contract staff in the coming three years.
At present, B/Ds may bid additional resources in the annual Resource Allocation Exercise to create relevant civil service posts to meet long-term service needs.
Note: "Full-time" means the employment is on a "continuous contract" as defined by the Employment Ordinance, namely an employee who works continuously for the same employer for four weeks or more, with at least 18 hours in each week.
Ends/Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Issued at HKT 15:49
NNNN
