An Overview of the Public Service Commission

The Commission is supported by a small team of civil servants from the Executive Officer, Secretarial and Clerical grades. At the end of 2019, the number of established posts in the Commission Secretariat was 32. An organisation chart of the Commission Secretariat is at Appendix II.

The Commission’s role is advisory. With a few exceptions specified in section (s.) 6(2) of the PSCO¹, the Commission advises on the appointments and promotions of civil servants to posts with a maximum monthly salary at Master Pay Scale Point 26 ($53,500 as at end of 2019) or above, up to and including Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Department (HoDs). The appointment of Directors of Bureau, Deputy Directors of Bureau and Political Assistants under the Political Appointment System is not referred to the Commission for advice. At the end of 2019, the number of established Civil Service posts falling under the Commission’s purview was 48 399 out of a total of 187 379. However, irrespective of rank, the following categories of cases must be submitted to the Commission for advice. They are –

As regards disciplinary cases, the Administration is required under s.18 of the PS(A)O³ to consult the Commission before inflicting any punishment under s.9, s.10 or s.11 of the PS(A)O upon Category A officers with the exception of the exclusions specified in the PSCO. Category A officers refer to those who are appointed to and confirmed in an established office or are members of the Civil Service Provident Fund (CSPF) Scheme⁴ . They include virtually all officers except those on probation, agreement and some who are remunerated on the Model Scale 1 Pay Scale. At the end of 2019, the number of Category A officers falling under the Commission’s purview for disciplinary matters was about 117 000.

The Commission also handles representations from officers on matters falling within its statutory purview and in which the officers have a direct and definable interest. In addition, the Commission is required to advise on any matter relating to the Civil Service that may be referred to it by the CE. The Commission also advises the Secretary for the Civil Service on policy and procedural issues pertaining to appointments, promotions and discipline as well as on a wide range of subjects relating to human resources management.

The business of the Commission is normally conducted through circulation of papers. Meetings are held to discuss major policy issues or cases which are complex or involve important points of principle. At such meetings, representatives of CSB and the senior management of departments may be invited to apprise the Commission of the background of the issue or case but the Commission forms its views independently.

In examining submissions from Bureaux and Departments (B/Ds), the Commission’s primary aim is to ensure that the recommendations are well justified and are arrived at following the required procedures and stipulated guidelines. To achieve this, the Commission has devised a meticulous vetting system and in the process may require B/Ds to provide clarifications and supplementary information. In some cases, B/Ds would modify their recommendations after taking into account the Commission’s observations. In other cases, the Commission is able to be satisfied with the propriety of the recommendations after examining the elaborations provided. The Commission also tenders suggestions or reminders to B/Ds on areas deserving management attention. The ultimate objective is to facilitate the pursuit of excellence in the administration of the appointment, promotion and disciplinary systems in the Civil Service.

In accordance with s.12(1) of the PSCO, the Chairman or any member of the Commission or any other person is prohibited from publishing or disclosing to any unauthorised person any information which has come to his/her knowledge in respect of any matter referred to the Commission under the Ordinance. Under s.13 of the PSCO, every person is prohibited from influencing or attempting to influence any decision of the Commission or the Chairman or any member of the Commission. These provisions serve to provide a clear and firm legal basis for safeguarding the confidentiality and impartial conduct of the Commission’s business.

In dealing with promotion and disciplinary cases, the Commission’s target is to tender its advice or respond formally within six weeks upon receipt of the submissions. As for recruitment cases, the Commission’s target is to tender advice or respond within four weeks upon receipt of such submissions.

In 2019, the Commission advised on 1162 submissions covering recruitment, promotions and disciplinary cases as well as other appointment-related subjects. Queries were raised in respect of 887 submissions, resulting in 156 re-submissions (18%) with recommendations revised by B/Ds in the light of the Commission’s comments. All submissions in 2019 were completed within the pledged processing time. A statistical breakdown of these cases and a comparison with those in the past four years are provided in Appendix III.

The Commission deals with representations seriously. All representations under the Commission’s purview are replied to following thorough examination. Should inadequacies or irregularities in B/Ds’ work be identified in the process, the Commission would provide advice to B/Ds concerned for rectification.

The Commission dealt with 11 representations relating to appointment matters in the year. After careful and thorough examination, the Commission was satisfied that none but one of the representations made was substantiated. The representation involved two officers in a department who were arranged by the management to take up acting appointments in a higher rank for more than six months without going through a proper selection process as required under Civil Service Regulation (CSR) 166(6)⁵. The department explained that the acting appointments in question were arranged for the sole purpose of meeting operational and management needs. It undertook to strictly adhere to the CSR in the future. For the subsequent promotion exercise that followed, the Commission Secretariat was specifically tasked to examine whether any undue advantage was given to the officers concerned for the performance they delivered while acting. The Commission was pleased to note that the promotion board had acted properly by giving full and fair consideration to all eligible candidates on an equal basis.

In addition to direct representations, the Commission also received complaints of various nature. After thorough examination of the facts and information provided by the relevant B/Ds, the Commission will deliberate on the substance of the complaints and reply to the complainants. Where the matters raised fall outside the Commission’s purview, the Commission Secretariat will re-direct them for the relevant B/Ds to reply.

The Commission has a key role to play in ensuring compliance and consistency in the application of policies and procedures that pertain to appointments, promotions and discipline in the Civil Service. While staff training and development are the core responsibilities of departmental and grade managements (GMs), the Commission has been working with CSB to promote a total approach in developing a comprehensive Human Resource Management strategy for the Civil Service. Specifically, we would like to see B/Ds create and engender an optimum environment to manage, develop and motivate staff thus enabling them to perform to the best of their abilities to achieve the B/Ds’ organisational objectives. In 2019, the Commission continued the initiative of fielding officers from the Commission Secretariat to participate at training sessions/workshops organised for Executive Grade officers. We were encouraged by the feedback that these forums have helped to nurture mutual understanding and enhance communications between the Commission and B/Ds. The face-to-face dialogue and exchange with the Commission Secretariat’s staff have enabled officers responsible for preparing submissions to the Commission to become better aware of the Commission’s standard and requirements. This in turn has helped to enhance our mutual efficiency. Separately, the Commission will continue to take advantage of our visits to B/Ds to discuss areas and matters of mutual interest.

An Index of the advice and observations of the Commission on Civil Service recruitment, appointment, discipline and other human resources management issues cited in the Commission’s Annual Reports since 2001 is provided on the homepage. The objective is to provide human resources management practitioners in B/Ds and general readers with a ready guide for quick searches of the required information.