LCQ7: Requirements for welfare-related funds and staff associations relating to the disciplined services to accept donations and sponsorships
******************************************************************************************
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council whether,under the existing regulations, various welfare funds and staff associations relating to disciplined services:
(1) may accept donations other than those coming from staff members of the disciplined services concerned (from outside); if so, set out the following details in a table by name of disciplined service:
(i) the names of the welfare funds/staff associations,
(ii) the ranks of the officers responsible for vetting and approving the acceptance of donations and monitoring their usage as well as the names of the divisions/committees to which the officers belong,
(iii) the criteria for determining whether or not donations are accepted, and whether such criteria include checking the background of donors, and
(iv) the number of times for which donations were accepted, the total amount received and the largest amount received in a single donation, in each of the past three years; and
(2) may accept sponsorships from outside for the internal activities held by them; if so, set out the following details in a table by name of disciplined service:
(i) the names of the welfare funds/staff associations,
(ii) the details of the vetting and approval mechanism,
(iii) the criteria for determining whether or not sponsorships are accepted, and whether such criteria include checking the background of sponsors, and
(iv) the number of activities in each of the past three years for which sponsorships from outside were accepted; in respect of each activity, the nature of it, the name(s) of sponsors, the total amount of sponsorships and the largest amount of money involved in a single sponsorship?
Reply:
President,
With regard to Hon Lam Cheuk-ting's question, after consulting the Civil Service Bureau (CSB), we provide a consolidated reply below:
Welfare-related funds and staff associations relating to the disciplined services may accept donations and sponsorships from sources other than staff members of the disciplined services concerned, including sponsorships relating to activities organised by them, provided that relevant requirements are complied with and considerations are given to whether the identity and background of the donors are appropriate.
Welfare-related funds relating to the disciplined services have to be administered in the manner stipulated in the relevant legislations. Regarding the welfare funds of the disciplined services (including the Correctional Services Department Welfare Fund, the Customs and Excise Service Welfare Fund, the Fire Services Department Welfare Fund, the Government Flying Service Welfare Fund, the Police Welfare Fund and the Immigration Service Welfare Fund), apart from being administered in accordance with the relevant legislations, they also have to comply with the criteria and requirements for accepting donation to staff welfare funds stipulated by the CSB, which require, inter alia, that the donation must not cause a conflict of interest or open to misconstruction, the department accepting the donation must not have any official dealings with the donor, and the donation must not be associated with a specific public officer. For acceptance of a donation which does not exceed $150,000, approval by the head of department concerned must be sought. For acceptance of a donation exceeding $150,000 or donations from the same donor exceeding $150,000 within 12 months, approval by the Secretary for Civil Service with prior consultation with relevant policy bureau must be sought.
As for the funds established in the form of trust under the Customs and Excise Service Children's Education Trust Fund Ordinance (Cap 551), the Police Children's Education Trust Ordinance (Cap 1119), the Police Education and Welfare Trust Ordinance (Cap 1120) and the Correctional Services Children's Education Trust Ordinance (Cap 1131), they have to be administered in accordance with the requirements of the relevant legislations, including that for a committee to handle issues in relation to the administration and management of the fund and the discharge of the committee's duties, etc.
The amount and number of cases of donations and sponsorships accepted by the above-mentioned funds over the past three financial years are listed in Annex 1, while the largest single donations or sponsorships accepted by the funds in the same period are listed in Annex 2.
As regards staff associations, according to relevant requirements of the CSB, officers soliciting or accepting advantages on behalf of their staff associations or clubs (Note 1) in their capacity as members or officer-bearers of the staff associations or clubs are required to ensure that they have the necessary permission to do so in accordance with the Acceptance of Advantages (Chief Executive's Permission) Notice in a similar way as if they are soliciting or accepting the advantages for their own benefit. The same requirement applies if the office-bearers hire an outsider to solicit or accept advantages for their staff associations or clubs. For the staff associations relating to the disciplined services, they shall apply for permission from their Heads of Departments if prior permission is required for accepting donations and sponsorships. The amounts of donations and sponsorships accepted by staff associations are financial information of such associations which would be inappropriate for the Government to disclose.
Note 1: "Staff association" or "club" means all staff associations, clubs, societies , trade unions or other staff bodies whose majority membership comprises serving civil servants, and quasi-official bodies such as sports and recreation clubs.
Ends/Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Issued at HKT 18:24
Issued at HKT 18:24
NNNN