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Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Hok-ming and a written reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Miss Denise Yue, on the five-day week initiative in the Government in the Legislative Council today (June 7):
Question:
Many members of the public have reflected to me that the Government's cessation of some counter services on Saturdays from next month onwards, for implementing the five-day work week, will cause them inconvenience. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) it has considered adjusting the work hours of the civil servants concerned, so as to further extend the counter service hours on Mondays to Fridays, which have already been planned to be extended; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(b) it will maintain the provision of the services concerned on Saturdays in accordance with the wishes of the public?
Reply:
Madam President,
In taking forward the five-day week initiative, our primary consideration is to maintain the overall level and efficiency of government services. The Government adheres to the following basic principles:
* no additional staffing resources;
* no reduction in the conditioned hours of service of individual staff;
* no reduction in emergency services; and
* continued provision of some essential counter services on Saturdays.
Under phase one to start on July 1, 2006, back-offices, offices providing in-house professional and administrative services; and selected government services will cease to operate on Saturdays. Upon moving to the five-day week mode of operation, the Government will fully, if not more than, compensate the opening hours lost on Saturdays by extending the opening hours on weekdays. More specifically, the opening hours of the government offices under phase one will generally be extended by some 45 minutes to 1.5 hours on a daily basis. Certain departments will make services available during lunch hours or further extend the opening hours on selected weekdays, such as Mondays or Fridays, to cater for the needs of their clients. In addition, internet services, drop-in boxes and alternative payment channels will be made available or further enhanced to facilitate business transactions with the Government. All these measures aim to minimise the impact of the five-day week initiative on the community. To enable the continued provision of services during the extended opening hours, the staff concerned may work in staggered hours under a roster arrangement, having regard to their conditioned hours of service and operational requirement.
The Government has carefully considered the nature of services, the availability of alternative means of service delivery and the utilisation rates before deciding on the services that will cease operation on Saturdays from July 1, 2006. Where appropriate, departments have consulted the relevant customer liaison groups, advisory committees or representatives of the industry sectors served. Our assessment is that non-provision of the selected services on Saturdays would have no significant impact on the general public. Indeed, in most cases, it is not necessary for members of the public to acquire the various government services in person. Following implementation of the five-day week initiative in July 2006, bureaux and departments will review the operation in August and, where necessary, consider making necessary adjustments to fine-tune the service hours or means of service delivery, taking into account feedback from clients and new service utilisation patterns.
Ends/Wednesday, June 7, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:52
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