Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung on Sunday said government department heads are responsible for reporting systemic loopholes after spotting them.

If senior officials noticed a problem beyond the scope of their own department's authority, they should report it to other departments or bureaux, or discuss it during internal meetings, Yeung told a TVB programme.

“I believe department heads have the responsibility, apart from focusing on their own departments’ work, that when there is a problem that cannot be handled, they should report it and bring it to a higher level of the government,” she said.

“If they fail to do that, they should be held accountable.”

Yeung said the Heads of Department Accountability System proposed by the government aimed to enhance departments’ execution abilities.

Investigations under the system, which will be divided into two tiers based on severity of issues, will cover all people involved instead of department heads only, she said.

“After the investigation, we would follow an existing mechanism to handle. Whether it’s the permanent secretary, department head or frontline civil servant, if they are incompetent or have committed misconduct, we would handle it using the same mechanism and there will be same consequences,” she said.

Asked if issues mentioned in the Wang Fuk Court inferno inquiry would affect pay rise for civil servants, Yeung said the government would consider all relevant factors.


Edited by Edmond Fong