Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung said a more stringent performance appraisal system is needed for civil servants to ensure that pay increases and rewards are directly tied to merit.

She was speaking in response to suggestions by some lawmakers that a review of the current incremental pay-rise system was needed.

Under the long-standing system, civil servants typically receive an annual salary increment within their scale – provided their performance is deemed satisfactory – until they reach the maximum pay point.

After a radio programme, Yeung said the current assessments are sometimes applied too "leniently".

"We are now proposing to establish a more stringent appraisal system that reflects more accurately the performance of civil servants," she said.

"And with the incremental point system closely associated with the performance of civil servants, when we have a more realistic, more accurate assessment of civil servants' performances, the incremental point system will also achieve its objective of rewarding only those who have performed well."

The civil service chief also clarified that the heads of department accountability system was also aimed at ensuring good performance.

The system will introduce a two-tier framework for addressing problems within government departments, with the response tailored to the severity of the issue.

The first tier will cover matters of a general nature, while the second will deal with widespread or systemic problems.

Yeung said that under this new system, bureau heads will be responsible for determining the severity and impact of an incident.

Their assessment will decide whether a case should be referred to the Public Service Commission for a formal investigation.

When asked about the potential for independent investigation committees to be set up for major incidents, Yeung indicated that the government would primarily rely on its established mechanisms but did not rule out independent inquiries.

Reaffirming the government's commitment to transparency, Yeung promised that the public would be appropriately informed.

"I believe when the second-tier investigation has to be triggered, when the Public Service Commission has to come into work to do the investigation, It must be something that the public is very concerned about," she said.

"The government, as always, in these circumstances, will disclose or will let the public know in an appropriate way the details of the case and what the findings are and so on.

"In some cases, the investigation may involve personal data, privacy concerns and so on. So the government will see to an appropriate way of disclosing details to the public."