Chairman’s Foreword

Every year the Commission publishes a report on the work undertaken in the past year. The publication of the 2021 Annual Report marks the completion of another year of productive work. In terms of caseload, we recorded a new high level of 1 379 with recruitments and promotions forming the main bulk of our work.

In the past two years, Hong Kong like the rest of the world has been striving hard to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Just when we took breath and quietly hoped that we might have halted it with no local reported cases of infection for a continuous 80 days, the fifth wave of an even more contagious Omicron variant hit us again. During the peak of the crisis in the first quarter of 2022, the number of daily infected cases soared to 50 000. At the time of writing, case numbers began to come down and hopefully the worst is over. To fight this epidemic, civil servants, irrespective of ranks and profession, trained or untrained, have united and availed themselves to brave this unprecedented challenge. The Commission stands with the Civil Service and hopes that with the concerted efforts of all, our lives could return to normalcy as early as possible.

The Commission was fortunate to be able to sustain our statutory responsibilities and delivered in full our pledged work targets. Last year, on top of our set missions, we were invited by the Chief Executive to work with the Secretary for the Civil Service to review the mechanism for the selection and appointment of civil servants at the core and highest echelons of the Civil Service. Appointment in accordance with the principle of meritocracy has always been the Commission’s doctrine. All the more reason the Commission has to ensure that every candidate recommended for promotion and recruitment is well-deserved and justified.

In tandem with the efforts to identify the best suited officers to fill key and senior positions to implement policies and contribute to the effective and good governance of the Government, the Commission welcomes the establishment of the Civil Service College in December 2021. The establishment of a Civil Service College replacing the former Civil Service Training and Development Institute underscores the Government’s recognition and vision to broaden and refocus the training needs of civil servants at all levels to prepare and better position them to take on challenges and new demands for now and the future. The Commission looks forward to the formulation of a more systematic and tailor-made training curriculum to enhance the knowledge and skillsets of the civil service workforce while reinforcing training on managing staff performance. The Commission supports the Government’s initiatives to give more and greater emphasis on national studies and to equip our civil servants with better understanding of the Basic Law. In ushering the 25^th Anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Civil Service must rise to its innate responsibilities to embrace and contribute to the development of our country while serving the best interest of Hong Kong under “One Country, Two Systems”.

The completed work of the Commission for 2021 is set out in eight chapters in this report. They are broadly categorized to reflect the scope of our statutory responsibilities. In the relevant chapters, we have sampled some significant cases and included the observations and advice we have given on them. They are intended to serve as a reference and a reminder to the management on pitfalls that can be avoided in the pursuit of excellence. On our part, we will continue to discharge our responsibilities zealously, independently and impartially.

Taking the opportunity of the publication of the annual report, I would like to extend my special thanks to my fellow Commission Members for their unfailing support and wise counsel. In particular, I would like to pay tribute to Mr Andrew MAK and Mrs Ayesha LAU who retired from the Commission after having served as Members for six years. I would also like to extend a warm welcome to Professor Francis LUI who joined the Commission during the year.

My gratitude also goes to the Secretary for the Civil Service and his colleagues for their readiness and assistance in taking forward the Commission’s suggestions and advice. On behalf of all Commission Members, I would like to place on record our appreciation to the Secretary of the Commission and all staff of the Commission Secretariat for their dedicated and hard work in the past year. That we are able to meet our public pledge is due in no small part to their diligence and determination.