Three new deputy secretaries to be added to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will help better implement the policies, chief executive-elect John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday, after the Executive Council, Hong Kong’s de facto cabinet, approved a major government reshuffle.
The restructuring, still subject to approval by the Legislative Council, is expected to be in place on July 1, when the new administration begins.
At a news briefing, Lee, who proposed creating the three deputy positions, said the restructured government will be more focused, with better synergies and a clear division of labor.
The three deputy secretaries — deputy chief secretary for administration, deputy financial secretary, and deputy secretary for justice — are expected to help enhance policy implementation as the current three secretaries are burdened with a heavy workload of coordinating and supervising the departments, said Lee.
Deputy secretaries can be appointed to handle major issues, such as leading the two housing task forces that Lee proposed in his election manifesto to help address the city’s housing shortage.
Lee said people who are good at coordination and can fulfill his results-oriented governance philosophy are suitable candidates.
To tie in with the top officials’ work, Lee also suggested adding one directorate officer to the offices of the three secretaries, while creating a political assistant post to support the secretary of justice. Lee said the secretary of justice of his administration needs to better promote the nation’s Constitution and the Basic Law of HKSAR, strengthen international legal cooperation and defend Hong Kong’s judicial system.
Speaking to the media before the ExCo meeting, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said she expects to complete the approval procedures by mid-June, which will allow Lee enough time to appoint critical officials and operate the new government structure when he takes office. She expressed her confidence that Lee will find suitable candidates for the posts.
A LegCo subcommittee set to deliberate the government reorganization will begin discussing the plan on Friday.
A government spokesman said in a statement that the government will submit the proposals to the related committee and subcommittee in June for approval of the increased staffing and funding.
The new plan will entail an increase of 13 Politically Appointed Officials and 57 civil service posts at a total salary cost of about HK$95 million ($12.1 million) per year.
At the Tuesday meeting, ExCo also endorsed a series of proposals, put forward by the current administration in January, including the establishment of a Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau to facilitate the city’s role as a culture and arts hub and separation of the Transport and Housing Bureau into a Housing Bureau and a Transport and Logistics Bureau.
Nine policy bureaus, including the new Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau, will be put under the supervision of the chief secretary for administration, while the financial secretary will oversee the other six.
