Legco Approves Government Restructuring Plan

The Legislative Council on Wednesday passed a government restructuring package that will add new deputies to the chief secretary, financial secretary and justice minister, as proposed by incoming Chief Executive John Lee.

The proposal was supported by 77 lawmakers present, with one against and one abstention.

Under the plan, the number of policy bureaus will be expanded from the current 13 to 15, with dozens of new posts to be created.

A new Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau will be set up, while the Transport and Housing Bureau will be split into two: the Transport and Logistics Bureau and the Housing Bureau.

Mr Lee in a statement on Wednesday night welcomed the plan's passage.

The Chief Executive-elect said he was grateful to LegCo for its scrutiny of the package, adding that the addition of deputy secretaries of departments will strengthen coordination and implementation of government policies.

DAB chairwoman Starry Lee supported the restructuring plan, saying it coincides with her party's reform proposals for the administration.

New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip, meanwhile, said it's important to create new deputy positions to assist the chief secretary, financial secretary and the justice chief, saying they can help share the heavy workload.

Despite voting in support of the revamp, some councilors still expressed concern over the plan.

Election Committee member Chan Siu-hung said he found the government's explanation of the roles of the three new deputies to be unclear.

Yan Chan, also from the Election Committee, said she's concerned that some departments connected to public health - such as the Centre for Food Safety and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department - will fall under the new Environment and Ecology Bureau.

"If the division of labour or coordination is not clear, we will still have problems like in the past, like which bureau is the one responsible for a particular policy?" she told RTHK.

Constitutional and mainland affairs minister Erick Tsang agreed that it's important to have a clear division of labour.

"I'm sure after the [governing] team is formed, the CE-elect will talk to his team and decide on the delineation of work, and we will report the details to you after they've been finalised," he told lawmakers.

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